


King of Iron Fist Tournament 8

by MeltyCat, Thatredheadedchick12



Category: Tekken
Genre: Angst, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Roleplay, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:32:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13810308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeltyCat/pseuds/MeltyCat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatredheadedchick12/pseuds/Thatredheadedchick12
Summary: The 8th tournament is about to begin. With Heihachi gone, who is the one hosting it? Time to find out...[Violence, drug/alcohol/tobbacco use, sex (implied non-con), nudity, mild racism, bad language]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an ongoing RP that I am slowly converting into a fic between myself and @thatredheadedchick12 on Tumblr
> 
> Main Characters:
> 
> Bryan Fury (Played by Sydney)  
> Sergei Dragunov (Played by me)  
> Raihiko Kobayashi (OC - Played by Sydney)  
> Rachel ‘Rae’ Taylor (OC- Played by me)  
> Paul Phoenix (Played by both, mostly Sydney)  
> Forest Law (Played by both)  
> King (Played by both)  
> Steve Fox (Played by both)  
> Nina Williams (Played by me)  
> Anna Williams (Played by me)  
> Lee Chaolan (Played by me)  
> Jin Kazama (Played by both)  
> Kazuya Mishima (Played by both)
> 
> This will be VERY NSFW, so all chapters will be added under a ‘Keep Reading’ barrier to protect fragile eyes.
> 
> NOTE: This fic has tried to keep characters as in character as possible, but obviously with some bending for plot reasons. Some personal headcanons also included.
> 
> WARNINGS:
> 
> Bad Language  
> Violence/Gore  
> Sex/Nudity (Some implied non-con)  
> Drug/Alcohol/Tobbacco Use  
> Mild racism

Chapter 1

A new tournament, a new era. The strangest events had happened throughout the world during the last event. With Heihachi reported dead, the tournament had been held by an unknown sponsor. No one knew who, or any of the finer details, just that they would be fighting for a cash prize and possible contract for something much greater. Whatever it was, it attracted the usual crowd.

Rae had heard of the tournament many years before. As a teen she had eagerly watched the events on the TV with her family, but it had not been until the new announcement that she had even considered entering. Her hand-to-hand skills had been pretty weak at best, but she had decided to set a goal for herself to enter. Oh, what she could do with that prize money! She grinned to herself as she imagined a win, cheque in hand, people cheering. She didn’t care much about the glory, but the money was certainly enticing.

She had come from a poor background. A small village in the United Kingdom where most people worked their fingers to the bone for enough money to live on and take care of their families. She came from a small family. One mother, one father and her two siblings. They had always struggled to make ends meet, even with everyone working, so the prize money would certainly change everything for the better. So, with the try outs over, the contract signed, she was good to go.

—

The day of the first heat arrived and Rae had flown out to the first location. She had never felt so important. A private jet, free accommodation? It was sweet. At the first stage she sat in a makeshift area that had been erected for the entrants to change, get ready and even train in and was surrounded by so many familiar faces. Ones she had seen on TV so many times. Excitement and anxiety welled up within her. She had never dreamed she would get to meet them, let alone have to fight against them. A surge of panic hit her like a tonne of bricks, as the realisation hit her that they were skilled and she was probably going to get beaten very badly. Despite her training day and night, she still worried that she was not good enough. An anxious sign left her lips as she sat and watched Paul Phoenix train with a dummy, his powerful punches landing in the most brutal fashion.

—

Raihiko was ready. She had been training for years for this tournament and she was finally able to compete. After the preliminaries, she signed the contract and headed to the first rounds of the Iron Fist.

As she walked into the make shift training area, the sounds and smells of the competition hit her hard. She was really here. She was really doing this.

She had never cared for hand to hand combat. She enjoyed the sound of metal on metal, the feel of the steel slicing through flesh. She had been forced into similar competitions, though you won your life, not money. This could prove to be an interesting competition. Hell, the only reason she even agreed to begin training was for the cash alone.

She wore her sparring garb, feeling quite naked without her tonfa strapped to her hips.

She stood and watched as a woman went to town, beating the shit out of a bag of sand. Her clothes were… Revealing. How could one fight in such a garb when there was the lingering fear of your tits falling from your top? She disliked women like that. Half the time they did it to purposefully reveal themselves, either to gain the upper hand or for attention. She sort of hoped she would be fighting the woman today. She could beat her ass and get her out of her sight.

She began walking again, not quite looking where she was going, suddenly hitting a brick wall. Or at least that was what it felt like.

“Oh! I am- uh…” she looked up at the menacing form of a man. If he could be called that. He was tall, severely scarred with white hair and a skeletal mask across his face.

“Watch where the fuck you are going.” he grunted as he walked away without another word.

Rae was sat on a small wooden bench, adjusting her knee and elbow pads when she heard a growling voice come from down the side of the lockers next to her. It seemed all the other fighters in the ready room hadn’t even registered it. They were obviously used to trash talk and scuffles to the point it didn’t bother them. She turned her head and leaned around so she could look at who had complained and caught sight of two extra people. A Japanese woman wearing black attire and a white haired… Monster of a man. Her eyes moved up and down as she noted all the scarring on his chest. Were those bullet holes!? She quickly looked away and yanked on the straps of her elbow pads. She knew who he was now, but he was so much more intimidating in person. Would she have to face him that round? She sure as hell hoped not.

Paul finished beating seven shades out of the training dummy, stretched and made his way over to the bench to grab a towel. After wiping his head and wrapping it round his neck, he let out a hearty laugh. “Nothin’ beats a good traning session, man. Nothin’!” Rae gave him a half-smile and straightened her shoulder pads. “You wanna get in a quick practice round before we start?”

Rae shook her head. “I’m, er… I’m good. I think I’ll save my energy for the actual match.”

Paul shrugged and looked over to Raihiko and gave a wave with his gloved hand. “Yo! Newcomer! Wanna spar some?”

Raihiko jumped as she turned quickly to come face to face with a man with a strange hair style waving at her. Well this just keeps getting better and better.

“I… Would but, I must find my locker and warm up. Perhaps we shall be put together in the ring?” she smiled and waved him off before continuing on. She found her locker, tossing her stuff on a bemch besides a young brunette woman. She shoved her given key into the slot and opened it, tossing her bag in, the destinct clinking of steel sounding within. She flinched as she looked around hoping no one heard. She would never cheat, but she just couldnt part with her beloved tonfa. She slammed the locker shut before shoving her key into her bossom.

Rae stood and kicked the toes of her boots on the floor to make sure they were on right and couldn’t help but chuckle as Paul gave an almost defeated look at them both.

“Aw shucks, ain’t no one willing to spar these days.” He slowly trudged his way over to his locker, unlocked it, reached inside and started munching on something. The wrapper was noisy.

“So…” Rae turned to Raihiko. “You speak English? I'mglad. Some of the people here don’t. I was worried I might not be able to at least hold a conversation.” She tugged on her gloves and zipped up her blue leather jumpsuit as much as she could without trapping her own skin up in it. “What brings you here? Or should I not be talking to you? I don’t even know protocol at these events yet.”

Paul peered out from his locker with his cheek bulging. “Nah, s'ok. Itsh good t'talk. Jusht…” He swallowed loudly. “Just pick yer people wisely.”

Raihiko slammed her locker shut and sat down to adjust and tighten her boots.

“Hai, I spent several years abroad in the US so I had to learn. Thise Americans. It is a wonder they can breathe unassisted. No offense.” she looked over to the man who was stuffing his face with a shrug before turning her attention back to the brunette.

“Kobayashi, Raihiko. And you are?” she asked with a smile. She was weary, but she would be friendly. After all, she didnt want to make enemies right out the gate. Seemed she already pissed off one big ass brute. No sense in pushing her luck.

“Rae… Uh, sorry. Rachel.” She offered her hand to shake, but quickly retracted it out of nervousness. “Taylor.”

Paul choked on whatever it was that he was eating and pounded on his chest for a moment. “Heyyy, we aren’t all that bad y'know! Some of us can breathe just fine! Well, when not inhaling crumbs.”

Rae snickered over at the man and he cleared his throat, before turning back to Raihiko. “I saw you almost died a moment ago. Good job on not getting torn to bits there.”

Raihiko looked to the American, raising a brow as she looked him over, as though her point was just proven. She then turned her attention back to Rachel.

“What, big bad and ugly? Heh. Yeah. Making friends already. I hope I am not against him. There is something in his eye that isnt right.” she shrugged as she stood and straightened her garb. This was going to be interesting.

Rae tilted her head a little to grin at Paul again, then looked back at Raihiko. “You… Don’t know about him huh? Well, I’d say there’s something off for sure.” She adjusted her shoulder pads once more to make sure they were all set and shook her head. “Believe me, facing off with him is something I am NOT looking forward to. He’s terrifying.”

Paul slowly scooted over and scratched the back of his neck. “Ol’ Be-ran there?”

“Oh fuck, don’t let him hear you call him that.” Rae couldn’t help the snorting laugh that came out her mouth.

“He hits hard, but he has his weaknesses. When I faced off with him last I saw that he leaves himself wide open.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, man. He’s all about them power hits!”

Raihiko raised a brow as she glanced at the brute. He was currently beating the snot out of a practice dummy. He reared back for a hell of a punch and sand went flying everywhere as the poor thing exploded. Rai blinked before turning her attention back to the two.

“So I take it he is a usual competitor? Forgive me, i have not actually seen any of the fights. My Sensei told me about it a few years ago and began training me for it.” she shrugged as she went back to tightening her boots and straightening her attire. “So who else is a returning competitor? Are you?” she asked as she looked at Rae.

She shook her head as she waved a hand in the air to swat away a little dust that had blown their way. “No. This is my first time too.”

Paul let out a stifled snort, to which rae responded with an exasperated sort of glare. “Really?”

“Hey, c'mon. I couldn’t help it. That one was jess too easy!” He turned to Raihiko and flexed a bicep. “I’m always in these tournaments. I’ve been comin’ since day one!”

Rae snorted. “I bet.”

“Ayyyy!”

The two gave a small fist bump, before turning in surprose as the remains of the training dummy Bryan had been pounding was hurled over their heads. It landed in a heap of ragged sack cloth on top of the lockers.

Raihiko quickly ducked in order to avoid getting hit with any flying debris. She quickly turned and glared at the white haired brute.

Bryan grinned a malicious grin as he watched the small group by the lockers. Oh how he hoped he would be in the ring with that red haired jap. Teach the little cunt a lesson for running into him.

Great. Now sand was all in her hair. Rae glared over at Bryan, but instantly regretted it. “Ah shit.”

Paul scruffed at his hair and dusted himself off. “Sup?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Any ideas who we are against first?”

“I think I saw you were against Christie Monteiro on the roster. I’m against Lucky Chloe.”

“Ew.” Rae wrinkled her nose. That girl had appeared out of no where in the previous tournament. She was an idol and she disgusted her to her core. “I feel for you, I really do.”

Paul let out a very loud, raucous laugh. “Y'think that’s bad? I think I saw Raihiko here was pitted against Alisa Bosconovitch!”

Bryan raised a brow as he glared right back at the brunette. Who did she think she was? Glaring at him like that. He held the post to the dummy in his hand, squeezing it tightly and reducing it to splinters before he trudged off to find another to beat the shit out of before the tournament started.

Raihiko looked to Paul, a curious look on her face.

“Who is this Alisia?” she asked as she finished her adjustments and crossed her legs as she sat straight. She didnt like the sound of his taunting.

Rae kept glancing back to Bryan, then to Paul and Raihiko and back again, the fear that she’d well and truly made herself a target sending shivers down her spine.

Paul grinned, oblivious to her inner turmoil and folded his arms. “She’s a robot. Pink hair. A bit cringey really. I mean, what does she think she is, some anime character? You’ll see anyway. Have a good one, yeah? I gotta high tail it out. I’m up next!”

“Yeah, see you.” Rae watched as the skycraper haired man swaggered his way out and turned back to Raihiko. “Well, good luck. At least neither of us are facing ‘You-know-who’. I suppose that’s a relief, eh?”

Raihiko shrugged.

“I suppose, but i have to go against some Ryuzaki charactor wannabe.” she grumped as she looked around realizing less and less people were around. “Are these… Matches… That fast? Want to go watch his? See how this is going to go?” she asked with a smile as she stood and stretched.

“Paul’s match? Or Mr Psycho? I’m down to watch both if you are. This will be fun if you’ve never seen a match before. It’ll give you a good feel too.” She slowly moved her way towards the entrance and peered out. A match was just about to start. Bryan versus… Was that… “Lei Wulong!? Oh no! This is the worst match up, who the fuck thought this would be a good idea!?”

“Ok so… What does that mean?” she asked as she watched as the bell rang and the brute went in, not holding back as he immediately began beating on the guy. It was interesting watching the man defend himself.

Rae instantly got into it and was ducking and dodging as she watched the pair. “Oh OH NO! Shit!” It took a moment to register that she had been asked a question. “Hm? Oh! Well… The story is Lei has been out for his blood for years. Well, not really his blood. Something about Bryan’s past. So the fact they paired these two is a bit silly.”

She watched as Lei spiralled around, hugged the floor and jumped up as Bryan threw a powerful punch, then a kick.

He was out for blood. A maniacal smile graced his features as he threw punch after punch. He wanted this mans guts spilled across the arena. He let out a loud battle cry as he threw a kick up, successfully round housing the man across the room.

Lei landed on the floor about 10 feet away, groaning and growling as he struggled to get up, but Bryan wasnt going to let that happen. No. This was personal. He ran at the man, nearly jumping on him, knocking him back onto his back as he threw punch after punch anywhere and everywhere he could connect with above the shoulder line.

Raihiko watched in horror as the savaged man attacked the other… Lei he was called. This was madness. Were there no rules against this? O h wait. That’s right. The only rule is no weapons. How silly of her to forget.

It didnt take long for the madman to subdue his opponent. Was he alive? He looked to be breathing, but he was pretty well banged up. Rai gulped loudly as the white haired man turned and headed right for them as people ran in to help the other fighter off the floor. Great.

Rae was still throwing air punches as she watched and letting out the odd 'ooh’ and 'ahh’. Lei was battered and bruised as she had expected. She had seen Bryan fight plenty of times before, but something about seeing it all in person made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The round was over, he had won and she almost hadn’t even registered that he was stomping thier way until he was almost a few feet away. “Oh fuck. I mean, uh…” She scooted to one side. The last thing she wanted was to end up like Wulong.

Rai had to admit that the young woman besides her was quite the animated one. She quickly moved out of the way, letting the behemoth of a man through.

Bryan growled an “outta my way” as he nearly bumped into the brunette that had dared to glare at him earlier.

“Well ladies.” said paul as he stretched his arms up and cracked his neck and knuckles simultaniously, “That would be my cue.” he said as he stepped forwards and looked back, finger gunning the both of them as he winked.

Rai rolled her eyes.

“I think i am next, actually.” she said as she looked up at the board.

Had she been able to she’d have melded with the door frame as he growled his words. Alas, she couldn’t, so had to clench her teeth and scrunch her eyes shut as he breezed past her, the scent of sweat and the blood on his knuckles rocketing up her nostrils. It wasn’t until Paul spoke that she managed to shake herself free of the vision of being pummelled into gore.

“W-Well… Good luck, I guess. Though I kinda don’t want you to win, since it might mean I’ll have to face you further down the line.”

Paul offered a wink. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Missy!” WIth that, he was gone, off to face his opponent.

Rae turned to Raihiko and let out a small sigh. “I suppose I should find a training dummy. I didn’t want to agree to sparr with Paul, but I do think I should get in some practice. Loosen up. As much as I’d like to watch Paul, I think I’ll go do that while I have time. You can join me if you want, or you can stay and study Paul’s fighting technique just in case.”

Raihiko nodded. She certainly needed to warm up. Especially since she was next and she had just gotten off a plane only a few hours earlier.

She slowly made her way around the corner and to the right where another set of dummies sat. “Oh… Shit.”


	2. Chapter 2

Bryan was pumped up, is blood pressure at an alarming rate as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. That was a very personal match and in his opinion the man got off easy. He was still breathing after all.

Raihiko tried to ignore the man as she walked over to a dummy and began stretching. She didnt care if the brute was there or not. She would warm up.

As the brunette rounded the corner, he was going to grab his water bottle from his locker and he nearly plowed her over. Instead he grabbed ahold of her shirt and slammed her against the frame.

“Who the fuck you think you are?” he growled as he brought his head down close to hers so they were eye level. She was quite short.

Raihiko had begun her stretches and barely noticed her new aquaintance was no longer behind her.

That was very unexpected for Rae. She almost collided with his towering form, but was suddenly grasped hold of and pushed backwards. It was so fast and so sudden that it took a moment to even register the fact that the wind had been knocked from her lungs as her back collided with the frame. A few splutters later, she managed to focus and locked eyes with his ice blue ones. This was not good. He was obviously still on a high from the match, his aggression levels were always so intense that he was known for brawling even after the match was over.

He had spoken to her though. Words. Actual words. A man who usually just laughed like a maniac had actually asked her a question. Was it rhetorical, or did he expect a reply? She didn’t know what to do for the best, so ended up lowering her gaze to his hand that was grasping hold of her leather jumpsuit. Blood was smeared all over his huge, gnarled fingers and was transferring onto the blue leather. She could feel his proximity, but his breathing was oddly shallow to what she expected. “I’m Rae?”

She instantly regretted opening her mouth and cringed. Her brain screamed at her. ‘Nice job. Say goodbye to your loved ones, you’re dead meat.’

Raihiko turned towards the commotion and quickly found out why Rae was no longer behind her. Bryan had her pinned against the door frame.

Rai gasped as she made to go help the brunette, but stopped dead in ger tracks. If this man was as crazy as they say, she would only be making this worse for her. She stood back, keeping a close eye in case age was needed.

Bryan seethed. Was she kidding? Did she think this was a joke? He grit his teeth so hard it was a wonder they didnt break.

Then he did something that surprised even himself. He tossed her aside with a growl and headed over to beat the snot out of some practice dummies, just hoping someone would look at him wrong.

Raihiko’s eyes widened as she watched. What the hell was that all about?

She quickly ran to Rae to see if she was ok, careful not to get anywhere near the brute as they passed one another.

Rae crumpled against the frame after he let her go and watched as he walked away, her eyes focused firmly on his back. “Wh… But…” She was alive? He hadn’t mashed her up into chum? What strange miracle was this and was did she get off so lightly? “Oh my fucking heart. I think I’m going to die after all.” She waved a hand around and had to laugh to herself for fear of losing her shit. Her eyes moved to Raihiko and she gave her a look of relief, but something was bothering her. Bryan was notoriously psychotic. No one got off lightly. She was confused, bewildered, every analogy in the book.

Suddenly, Paul came striding in, blood dripping down his face, but he was grinning widely. It seemed as though he had won and he couldn’t help but show how pleased he was. He looked over to the pair, gave a fistpump in the air, but noticed Rae was still clinging to the door frame. “The heck?”

Raihiko rushed to help get the poor woman on her feet.

“What the hell was that all about?” she asked as Paul came striding up to them. He had won. Great. They would have to put up with his ass a little longer.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked as he grabbed a towel and threw it around his neck, wiping the blood with it, merely succeeding in smearing it aroun.

Rai sighed as she heard the warning bell ring to call her for her own match. Boy did they move fast.

“Here. Help her. Rae, tell me what happened when i get back.”

She wasnt sure why she cared. She had only just met the woman, but she seemed nice enough.

Raihiko took in a deep breath as she moved through into the arena, taking her spot.

Rae burst into a fit of laughter as she watched Raihiko leave and leaped forwards to Paul, latching onto his arm for dear life. “I almost died! I ALMOST DIED!” Her laughter continued to the point that her eyes started to leak. “But I didn’t. What’s up with that? You know what, screw it. I am going to find out!”

She wobbled a little, stood upright and marched away from Paul in the direction Bryan had gone. What was she thinking? Maybe it was a bad idea. But she needed to know what that was all about. Why had he let her get away with it? She hated inconsistency and secrets, it was one of her biggest pet peeves besides laziness. Once she found him, she stomped into the area as confidently as she could, her nose wrinkled. “What was THAT about!?”

Paul didn’t know what was going on. It was nothing new though. Something weird was always going on in the tournaments and he was used to it. He simnply wiped himself with his towel again and began to undo his gloves.

Raihiko watched as some pink… Girl? Sure? She madebher way to the arena anyways. Raihiko bowed politely as was embedded in her very DNA for good sportsmanship.

This girl really was an anime girl wanna be. She would not underestimate her of course, but she couldn’t help but think that this was going to be her easiest match.

—

Meanwhile, Bryan was trying to burn off his adrenaline high by beating the shit out of a practice dummy. As he heard the voice behind him, he gravbed the sand bag mid section and squeezed until it exploded, sending sand everywhere.

He quickly turned on the little woman, ripping his bandana down and growling at the woman, baring his teeth at her. “Do you wanna die today? If so, it can be arranged.” he snapped as he took a menacing step towards her.

Rae jumped, but she tried to stand her ground. Sure, it would suck to end up dead on the floor, but she had to find out what was going on. She knew his story. It was common knowledge. He had been given cybernetic implants. While his outer body was still human, inside he had all kinds of neat tech keeping him alive. Was it malfunctioning? She knew he’d never hold back. Never. She coughed and blew the sand dust away from her face and placed her hands on her hips. She should have been taping up her hands ready for her round, but this was too much to pass up.

“No thanks. i’ll pass. What about you?”

Bryan narrowed his eyes. This girl had guts. Either she didnt have a clue as to who he was, or she really did have a death wish. Were they anywhere else, he would have happily reached out and snapped her neck. The thought itself was quite satisfying to the brute, but he had to… “Behave”. Especially if he wanted to reach his end goal.

“You’re lucky that prize money is slightly more appealing than killing you where you stand.”   
  
“Huh. That figures. You’re busted. I should tell the offici-”   
  
He brushed past her, making sure to bump her on his way as he headed for the showers.

She was interrupted by the bump and it sent her flinging against the wall with an ‘oof’. “Hey, HEY! I’ll report you if you’re glitching out! SO help me! I refuse to go up against anyone glitching!” She yelled after him, hoping that he wasn’t just ignoring her words. He hadn’t killed her. Yet again. First Lei, and now her twice. Something was definitely amiss. 

—

Too easy. It took longer than she had anticipated but it was far too easy to take down the woman. Her head had actually fallen off! All she did was kick the woman! How was she supposed to know that would happen!

After the fight was over, she saw that she had actually not killed the robot per se, as her head was put back and and she trudged off to lick her wounds.

Rae slowly made her way back round into the main waiting area to where Paul was and waited for Raihiko to return. “How’d she do?”

Raihiko returned to see Rae and Paul waiting for her. Good to know she didnt do anything rash. She could feel the burn in her side where the robot girl had managed to land a particularly strong kick, but besides that and being quite sweaty, she felt rather good.

“I see he didnt kill you.” she smiled as she grabbed the key from her bossom and opened her locker to grab a towel to remove the sweat from her face.

Paul looked at them both with confusion.

“Nope.” Rae folded her arms. “I even went to find out what the heck was wrong with him after you went to your match.”

“Wait… What?” Paul scratched the back of his head. “You don’t mean…”

“Mmm. It’s worse than I thought. I think he might be malfunctioning.”

“Malfunctioning?” Raihiko questioned with a tilt of her head as she reached in to pull out her bag. “Wait, is he a robot too?” she raised a brow as she pulled her kimono from her bag, revealing a bit of shine beneath, but Rai quickly covered it with another article if clothing. She needed a shower. Bad.

“Are you insane?” Paul reached out and grabbed Rae by the shoulders. “You could have been…”

Rae shushed him and waved a hand around to get him off. “I know, but look! I’m alive!” She looked to Raihiko, saw a glint of metal in her bag and wrinkled her nose a little. “Uh-huh. Well, he’s mostly human. I guess. I’m surprised you haven’t heard anything about him, or any of the fighters to be honest.”

“You been livin’ under a rock?”

“Shh!” Rae thrust a finger up against Paul’s lips and the mushed in a hilarious manner. “Bryan is technically a reanimated corpse from what I hear. He has tech inside him that keeps him going. A cyborg, I guess.”

She turned to look at paul with an unamused look on her face.  
“No. Tokyo, Japan. In seclusion. Sorry no televisions in my Sensei’s Dojo.” she looked to Rae again.

“So… A zombie huh? Well then. What the hell else do i have to look forwards to? Nazis? Russian spies? Cat people? Already went up against a robot. “This just keeps getting more interesting.” 

Paul raised a finger as if he was about to speak, rae’s finger still pressed against his lips, but thought better of it and lowered it in defeat.

“Well, I guess zombie is one word for it. But I don’t think he smells all THAT bad. No rotting flesh, just sweat.”

Rai grumbled as she headed towards the showers, wondering what she had gotten herself into. 

Paul grimaced and watched as Raihiko left for the showers. “Oh! Shower? I’ll join ya!” With that, he too dashed off for the showers almost a little too enthusiastically.

Rai glared at the man, thinking the worst as he followed her.“I would rather do this alone, if you don’t mind.” she grumbled as she walked into a stall and closed the curtain behind her quickly.

Rae was left standing on her own waiting for her round to start.

It didn’t take long.


	3. Chapter 3

They had been flown to the next area they would be competing in. Arizona. United states. As soon as she stepped off the plane she instantly regretted not packing a summer kimono. It was winter in Japan right now. Not to mention she didnt forsee being sent to the damn desert. Thankfully she fought in… Less clothing.

She made it to the luggage area and grabbed her pack, then looked around for Rae and Paul. They had been on the same plane. Several others were sent elsewhere. Unfortunately Mr. Brute Force was going to be in the same hotel as they were. Ugh. This was going to be a long night.

Rae was busy trying to stop Paul from hitting on the hostesses as they walked through the airport and was all but shoving him from behind to get him to move. Thankfully, he was distracted by a familiar voice.

“PAUL!”

“FOREST!”

“BUDDY!”

“AYYYY!”

Rae shook her head and wandered to Raihiko. “Lets get to the hotel and get some training in or something. The bro love between these two is too intense for me.

As soon as they got to the hotel, Rae was regretting her jumpsuit. She knew the different stages would have different conditions, but she hadn’t expected to hit such heat so quickly. She was sweating! As soon as she had signed in, she walked to her room, bid Rai a quick farewell for the time being, turned on the air con and stripped to her underwear. It was too much. Far too much. She was used to milder temperatures. She would have to just drink a lot and hope her round would be over fast, as she didn’t really have any suitable alternate attire.

Rai couldnt agree with Rae more. She wanted to get out of this place. She was lucky compared to some of the contestants. Her silk kimono could breathe. She wasnt nearly as overwhelmed. Rai pulled her key from her bossom and shoved it into the lock. It wouldnt turn. What the… She furrowed her brow as she pulled it out and blew on it as though that would help. She then shoved it back in and tried every which way to get it to turn. She let out a frustrated cry as she slammed her fist on tge door before she turned and slid down to the floor on her butt, leaning heavily against the door, looking up at the ceiling. This was just her damn luck. Locked out of her own room.

Suddenly the door flung open and there stood a smartly dressed, black haired, blue eyed man. He peered down at the person who had just hammered on his door in stoic silence, a single brow raised. Why was this person trying to enter his room? Was she a spy? Was she hoping to assassinate him perhaps? He would wait and see what she had to say for herself.

Raihiko let out a yelp as she suddenly fell backwards as the door was opened. She groaned as she sat up, rubbing the back of her head as she looked at a pair of fine shoes, connected to a pair of brownish dress pants, to an equally dressy coat, up to meet a pair of the most chillingly light blue eyes she had ever seen. She quickly scrambled to her feet, her face heating in embarrasment.

"Gomen'nasai! I… I am not at my room am i?” she asked as she reshouldered her large duffle bag. Boy this was not a good start.

Sergei Dragunov. Of course, he didn’t actually vocalise his introduction, he simply blinked, let a breath out through his nose and gestured towards the door opposite his. He had seen the floor plan, whose room was whose. It was in his nature to be a perfectionist and know where his enemies may be. He outstretched a gloved hand to assist her, still as silent as the grave.

She looked back behind her at the door he had pointed to and blinked. Room 233. There it was. Her room. Rai let out a sigh as she finally accepted his offered hand and got to her feet.

“I am very sorry. My name is Kobayashi, Raihiko. Are you… Here for the tournament as well?” she asjed as she realized she still had ahold of his hand and quickly let it go. He had a strong grip.

Sergei simply nodded and carefully released her hand, his facial expression not changing even by a single twitch. He didn’t feel he needed to. She would find out who he was and what he was about soon enough when the heats began, after all. He carefully tugged at his collar. The heat was rather stifling.

“Uh…. Do you speak English? Or… Do you not understand a word i am saying?” had she spoken in japanese before? She had done so on accident many times and not realized it. Mostly when she was drunk. Boy was he tall. And scarred. She couldnt help but look at the scarring on his face. He had to be a fighter.

He moved his hands behind his back and offered a small bow, his heels clicking together, before he turned and went back inside his room. The door closed with a light ‘ker-thunk’. She would find out. People spoke, people were notorious gossips. Especially contenders in this tournament.

Rai heard the door close and looked to face a door in her face. Had she offended the man? Great. Already making enemies in the tournament.

—

Rae grumbled as she lay in a star shape. If she was that hot then after only a short walk, how would she manage the round? She didn’t have a clue who she was facing, but she knew she would have to arrange something to wear. The match wasn’t for another 72 hours, so she had time. Maybe she could get one of the event staff to do it? She rolled over on her bed, reached down to her backpack, fished around in the pocket and yanked out her card.

Bryan sat at the little table in his room. He was shirtless and down to his skivvies as he smoked a cigarette and cleaned his zippo as Metallica played on the radio in the background. He was feeling ansty. He needed to blow off some steam. But he couldnt risk getting kicked. It was frustrating, having to hold back.

Rae rolled backwards over her bed and yanked up the phone from off of its stand. She had no idea how to even use it to call the staff. She had never been in a hotel and used room service, or even given a number to contact. She just picked it up and hoped for the best. Thankfully, a member of the staff answered and informed her that someone would be up later to assist her. For now, she would just have to wait and try and cool off. It was frustrating. She hated being stifled. She picked up her boot and hurled it at the wall angrily. “Ugh. Why is the air con not even working!?”

Bryan was shaken from his cleaning trance by a loud banging on the wall. He stopped what he was doing, set down his lighter and pulled the cig fom his mouth as he glared at the wall vefore giving it a good smack. Hopefully this wouldnt be happening regularly or else he will have to go have a nice little…. Chat with his neighbor. That would help him blow a little steam.

Rae froze. She had not expected that at all. A bang in return? Well, two could play at that. She grinned as she reached down for her other boot and lobbed it at the wall. It made a satisfactory 'THUD’ and came to rest by the skirting board.

As he went to clean his lighter again, his smoke in the ash tray, another thud arose from the wall besides him. He let out a growl as he slammed his lighter down and stood, nearly knocking the table over in the process. He got up and marched to the door, ripping it open and headed right for his neighbor’s door and banged rather hard.

Raihiko, who was still out in the hall, looked to her right suddenly as she heard the bangs. There stood Bryan in all his scary ass glory slamming a fist on Rae’s door.

Paul wandered by, Forest following close behidn carrying a duffle bag. “Heyyyy. I was wonderin’ where you got to. 'Sup?” Suddenly, he was interrupted by the silver haired cyborg who was almost buldozing down one of the hotel room doors. “Oh shit. We about to see a cool fight?”

Rae leaped to her feet. Who the fuck was banging on her door like that? And even worse, she was not even decent. Was it the staff there to help her with her clothing problem? Surely they wouldn’t almsot bang a hole in the door in such a way. She had no choice but to scurry around in an attempt to get dressed.

Rai turned to the angry brute at Raes door and instantly flushed. He was…. Very indecent. And she couldnt. Stop. Staring. Buldge. Oh gods.

She barely registered Paul talking as she watched him nearly plow the door down.

“That- that’s Rae’s door!” she managed to get out.

Bryan on the other hand hadnt even registered that there was an audience. He didnt care. “Open the fuck up so i can beat the shit out of ya.” he growled as he banged on the door a little harder. The coward wanted to play games and then hide huh? Heh. Typical.

Rae flailed as she tried to put on her jumpsuit, but couldn’t even manage to get it on properly. It was sticking to her skin terribly and she was having a hard time pulling it up. Wait… Was that Bryan’s voice? Did he just say he wanted to beat the shit out of her? Oh no. No no. He was NOT coming in. She stopped trying to pull her jumpsuit on and contemplated barricading her door with the dresser off to the side.

Paul raised a brow. “Hey Bryan. The fuck are you doing? Put some damn clothes on man, we don’t wanna get our eyes poked out!”

Forest covered both eyes with his hands feeling suddenly inadequate. “That’s gonna take some therapy to unsee I think.”

Raihiko couldnt speak. She was too busy staring. Dear god. She pitied the woman who would willingly go to bed with that.

As the guys taunted, she quickly got her wits about her and hurried to unlock her door and ran in, locking it behind her. She felt a little cowardly, but she had rather not gotten into a brawl in one of her best kimonos.

Bryan quickly turned to see the two men who spoke.  
“You rather take their place?” he growled as he took a menacing step towards the two men.

Paul and Forest raised both hands defensively, but their eyes kept going downwards to his white underwear.

“Hey man, we got no beef with you.” Paul slowly slunk backwards until he hit a potted plant and fell backwards onto his rear.

Forest simply shook his head, his hands still over his eyes. “No. We’re good thank you. We want to live.”

Forest helped Paul get to his feet and the pair backed up into the corner just as he all but demolished the door. “What should we do?” Forest, ever the considerate one, looked to his best friend with terror in his eyes.

“I say we turn tail and go find a buffet.”

Forest took a moment, but nodded and the pair fleed out of the hotel as fast as their legs could carry them. They wanted to continue in the tournament, not end up in hospital or worse.

Inside her room Rae breathed a sigh of relief as the hammering on her door stopped. She didn’t fancy the maid stumbling across her bloody corpse, after all. She slowly slumped back onto her bed and let out a large sigh. Great, now she’d definitely screwed up and made an enemy. Maybe he wasn’t malfunctioning after all.

Raihiko leaned against her door and let out a sigh. She could hear the muffled argument going on outside, but at least she couldnt see is anymore. Dear god. That thing should be registered as a weapon!

Bryan, however, wasnt going to waste any more time. He reared back and punched a hole near the handle and quickly unlocked and opened it and stormed right in.

“You want to fucking die- you!” he snapped as he recognized the heap on the bed.

Rae flailed as she heard the splintering of wood, as she sat bolt upright on her bed, her leather jumpsuit around her waist. “THE FUCK!?” There, stood in his white underwear, was Bryan looking exceedingly miffed. “You call that fucking knocking!?”

“I fucking knocked.” he growled as the fact that her jumpsuit was around her waist completely went over his head. “The fuck is the big idea?” he hissed as he stepped closer, letting the broken door swing shut behind him.

Meanwhile Raihiko had grabbed a cocktail glass and was listening in. If he was going to throttle her new friend she would be ready to jump in, but she felt if she barged in there that very second she would only make it worse.

Rae grabbed a nearby pillow and held it in front of her. “The hell are you even talking about!? I was minding my own business trying to cool down and having a banging contest with whoever was next door! And now this? Now my door is busted and people can see in!” She hurled her pillow towards him in frustration. “I don’t want any old git seeing me change!”

Bryan growled as he caught the pillow from out of the air and tossed it to thw side.

“Yeah! That was me telling you to shut the fuck up! I’m next door.” His voice rumbled as he stepped closer.

“That was YOU? Oh for crying out loud. Why didn’t you just yell? You do enough of it as it is!” She tried to battle with her jumpsuit again, her skin sticking to the fabric again making it hard work. “How was I to know that thud was you saying that?”

Sergei had been disturbed from his poetry reading by the commotion and has ventured outside of his room to see what was going on. If it was someone who had come for him, he would deal with it. As the shouting continued, his eyes narrowed. No. It wasn’t for him. But whoever it was they were sure being overly loud and loutish.

Rai’s eyes widened as she tossed the glass on her bed. She grabbed her Tonfa from the top of her bag as she moved to her door and quickly opened it to see she was not the only one disturbed by the happenings. She looked to the man across from her before she moved to Rae’s door. She noticed the big hole near the handle and swallowed hard. She didnt want to use her weapons. She wpuld surely be disqualified from competing if she attacked another competitor, but she wouldnt let this brute harm her new aquaintance. She stood by the door, listeing as he tonfa rested against the back of her arms, the end blades past her handles resting on the back of her thighs. She was ready if she was needed.

Sergei simply regarded the other woman who had joined him in the hallway. When he caught sight of her weapons, he gave her a very subtle shake of the head.

Raihiko tilted her head at the man in the doorway.

“What? Am i supposed to just let him tear her apart?” she whispered harshly as she backed up to her doorway. Was he nuts? Though…. Maybe he was right? Maybe she shouldny poke the bear with her weapons.  
She gave them a professional spin before she retreated to throw them on her bed for now before she ran back to the hallway to listen.

Bryan narrowed his eyes. She was certainly testing his self restraint, and there wasnt much there to begin with.  
“An idiot would know a knock to the wall is a sign of shut the fuck up!” he yelled as he balled his fists. He was on the verge of seething. This woman was jump roping with his last nerve.

Sergei simply stood with his eyes on the broken door. He was conflicted with regard to the other female voice he could hear coming from inside. This was the King of Iron Fist. If she was unable to defend herself, why would she be here? But if he allowed Bryan to go ahead and kick seven shades out of her, what sort of gentleman would he be? Not that he would ever really speak about such things, but he had strong opinions. He glanced over to Raihiko, moved forwards and leaned against the wall next to Rae’s door, his arms folded across his chest and one boot on the paintwork.

Rai blinked as the man stood besides her and leaned against the wall. Wait, would he help her take bryan if he tried to take out Rae?

“Can you see anything?” she asked in a whisper as she tried to peer around him. Wait. Could he ever understand her? She couldnt quite figure it out yet. He hadnt said a word. She didnt even know his name! She nearly tripped on her own foot as she tried to move around him to get a better look.

He held out a gloved hand to stop her toppling over, but to also stop her revealing herself. The hole in the door was large enough to be able to see movement through, after all. He slowly raised a digit on his other hand up to his lips. He didn’t want to do anything if it was not needed and he certainly didn’t want them to know they were there.

“An idiot!? Rich coming from someone who just goes around destroying things for no god damn reason and then expects me to magically know via telepathy or some shit that a bang on the wall meant shut up when he is CLEARLY capable of using his brutish, overly loud voice!” She shot to her feet. “And another thing! What gives you the right to even enter my room?”

Bryan ground his teeth as he tried to keep his cool.

“You know what? Fuck you.” he said as he turned on his heel to leave. He was pissed. And if he didnt leave now, the maid would be scraping her off the walls.

“Try to keep it the fuck down in here.” he growled before he ripped open the door.

Rae felt her stomach churn as he turned to leave and watched his retreating form until the door had slammed shut behind him. Something didn’t quite sit right again. Why was he being so passive? It wasn’t that she wanted to die horribly. But she couldn’t help but wonder what was happening to the man… If he could be called that. She scrunched her eyes shut and flopped back down on her bed as images of his white underwear assaulted her mind. She would find out, though. She had always enjoyed watching his fights, so if he was breaking then surely someone needed to be informed.

Outside Sergei stood bolt upright as Bryan left the room, the door slamming, but swinging due to the broken handle and lock.

Rai slapped her hands over her mouth to stop the sudden gasp that nearly escaped her lips. “Arigato. I am normally not so-” but she was cut off by the form of Bryan plowing through the door. She suddenly pressed her back against the man, trying to make herself small as the brute trudged back to his room.

Bryan didnt even register that he had a mini audience as he ripped open his own door and entered before slamming it shut, causing Rai to flinch. She finally let out the breath she didnt realize she was holding.

He was pissed. He grabbed his pack off the table and lit up a smoke as he began pacing. He needed to let off some damn steam. But how? That bitch next door to him had really lit a fire under his ass.

Rae was also pissed. She scrubbed at her face furiously and rolled off of her bed. Once she was on the floor she shuffled to the adjoining wall and punched it making sure it made as much noise as possible without damaging it. _“NEXT TIME WEAR SOME DAMN CLOTHES, YOU FUCKING ASS!”_

Oh that woman. It took everything he had to not bust through the wall and strange her with her own intestines. He hoped he would be put against her. They had rules about killing competitors outside the ring. Nothing about in the ring. She better hope she gets eliminated before he gets ahold of her. He was already fantasizing about her death as he flopped on to his bed, laying on his back as he took a long drag of his cigarette.

Outside, Sergei had both hands on the shoulders of the Japanese woman who had cowered from Bryan. She shouldn’t have been so scared. After all, they were in a fighting tournament. She would probably end up facing him if she wom enough heats. He looked down at her with a brow raised, wondering why the silver-haired man had inspired such fear in her.

“Gomen… I dont know what came over me.” she said as she turned to face him, crossing her arms in the sleeves of her kimono. “He’s… Uh… Kind of intimidating.” she shrugged.

Sergei raised both brows at her, glanced over to Bryan’s door and back to her again. Was this man really as bad as all that? Maybe he needed to be careful… Or maybe, just maybe, he should try to make an ally out of him. With powerful allies, he couldn’t be touched. Perfect. A slight smirk crept onto his face, but barely visible to most. WIth that, he gave another bow, before making his way back into his room, offering another small bow and shutting the door.

Rae had had enough and threw off all her clothes and jumped in her shower, making sure to be as noisy as possible.


	4. Chapter 4

Raihiko smiled to the wait staff as she walked in to the restaurant slash bar. She was starving. And she needed a damn drink.

It was a seat yourself establishment so she opted to sit at the end of the bar neat a large window so that she could watch the dark world outside as she ate and drank herself into a stupor. Her match wasnt for a couple days yet so she wasnt too worried about letting loose a little.

Sergei had arrived to dinner at 7 on the dot. He was always very punctual and liked to keep time. His meal was over and so he slowly made his way over to the bar. He brushed the bar stool off with a handkerchief from his inner pocket before sitting on it and stuffing it back inside his jacket, ordered himself vodka and enjoyed the company of silence. It was an oddly quiet evening. Hardly anyone else had turned up yet.

Rae, on the other hand, was mortified. The staff had finally brought clothing up for her, but it was the kind of clothing she would never even dream of wearing in public. The staff had told her that it was fine and would be good for press. Something about looking good for the camera, but she was not convinced. Sadly, she had no choice and slithered into a very tight snakeskin print dress with spghetti straps. It was horrible… She made her way down to the bar. Suddenly, she wasn’t hungry.

Raihiko barely noticed the russian at the other side of the bar as she grabbed the drink menu and furroed her brow. She called the bartender over and he asked what she would like with a smile on his face.

“Do you have Plum Sake? I don’t see it on your menu.” she asked as she flipped through the pages again. Surely they had Sake? What sort of barbaric establishment didnt have sake?

“I’m sorry, but we do not carry sake.” the man said with a smile as he held his pen and pad of paper out.

Rai about screamed. What thw hell was wrong with this place?!

“How do you not have Sake!? What am i supposed to drink now??” she yelled in frustration. The man backed away a little, as though he were afraid she was going to jump over the table at him.

“I… We have a few drink specials.” he offered her the menu with the specials before excusing himself to go take care of the other customers.

She grumbled silent obscenities in Japanese as she fumed over the menu. She had only ever had Sake so she was not sure what she would like.

Sergei looked over the edge of the small poetry book that he had produced from his jacket, his ice blue eyes connecting iwth the Japanese female he had met earlier in the day. She wanted Sake? They didn’t have any? DId they even know that the tournament was ALWAYS held by Japanese benefactors? What incompentence! He could understand her outrage and found it mildly amusing that it manifested as a glow on her cheeks. He slowly placed the book back into his jacket and slammed his fist on the bar to get the attention of the bar tender. As soon as he looked over Sergei gestured with two fingers that he wanted two shots.

Rae slowly made her way into the bar, looked around and was silently relieved that only Rai and one other person was present. She raised a brow. Wasn’t that… She would have to ask Raihiko about it later. She slowly slunk into a booth across the way and heaved a sigh, adjusting the very short hem of her awful abomination of a dress.

Rai jumped as a fist slammed on the table not far from her. She looked over to see the same man as before. Her hotel neighbor. She blinked as she watched him gesture to the bartender.

“Don’t you ever talk?” she wasnt trying to be rude, but she couldn’t help the question that came out. It was genuine curiosity.

She slipped across into the seat besides her, now sitting next to the man so that she wouldnt have to speak louder than necessary. The seat wasn’t taken as far as she knew at least.

The bartender all but threw vodka into two glasses and slid them to the man. He gave a nod to him and slid one over to the woman who had taken the seat next to him. She had asked him a question, but he simply raised his glass towards her.

Rae watched with curiosity, wondering what was going on. She knew who the man was. She’d seen him enter the competition two times ago. He was an odd one, that was for sure.

Rai tilted her head to the side as she watched him slide a shot glass filled with a clear substance over to her.

“Arigato… What is it?” she asked as she held up her own glass and examined it.

He simply raised his glass higher, untill finally giving up waiting for her to clash the glasses together and doing it for her. With that, he up ended his glass and allowed the clear liquid to pour down his throat, slammed the glass back on the bar and dabbed at the corners of his mouth delicately with a single gloved finger.

—

Bryan had fallen asleep, despite the racket the bitch next door had been making in the shower. Annoying little gnat! He was woken from his peaceful slumber by his rumbling stomach. He groaned as he threw his feet over the side of his bed and moved to at least throw some shorts on.

He walked down and groaned as he saw that pain in his ass in a booth. Maybe if he was quiet she wouldny notice him. He wasnt afraid of her. He wasn’t avoiding her… Ok that was a lie. He was. He just wasnt sure how much longer he could put up with her shit. He sat in a booth further down the line, hoping she wouldnt notice him.

Rae’s eyes were firmly fixed on the pair at the bar. What did she think she could gain from hanging around with him? Was she just doing it out of politeness? She would find out. Oho, she would find out! She whirled her eyes around as she saw him dap his mouth all prim and proper. During the whirling, however, she caught sight of what she thought was silver hair, but it vanished from her line of sight. Maybe she was seeing things. Why would she be seeing him? Was she going crazy?

Bryan let out a grumbling sigh. Thank god he made it into the booth without her seeing him. The waitress came over and handed him a menu.

“Whiskey. Make it a strong double. No ice.” he gruffed as he snatched the menu from her hand. It didnt take long for the waitress to return with his drink. And he swallowed it in one massive gulp. The warmth that followed finally somewhat settling his nerves. Maybe he would drink his dinner tonight…

Rai blinked as he clinked his glass against hers, but nearly dropped her shot glass as he spoke. He spoke! He actually said aomething. She had no idea what language it even was, but he spoke! She quickly threw back her shot so she wouldnt come across as rude and winced at the burn. It was… Different. Not something she was used to, but it was smooth and it warmed her stomach.

“Thank you.” she said as she set her glass down and pushed it towards the edge of the bar for the bartender to collect. “It is surprisingly smooth. Not much of a burn. American liquor?” she asked.

His blue eyes instantly flicked to stare at her in shock. American? What an insult! Still, he wouldn’t hold it against her. It didn’t seem she was all too familiar with a lot of things. He slowly took a breath… “Russian.”

Rae would have laughed over the way Rai had downed the shot, but she heard a low rumbling voice. The music in the bar wasn’t too loud at all, which made a nice change. But as a result, conversations weren’t too private. She slowly slid upwards onto her feet, her head rising over the side of the booth. So she HAD seen him. She inhaled sharply and choked on her own spit in the process. What should she do? Should she hide and not let on she was there? What if he already knew?

 

From the look on Sergei’s face she was afraid that perhaps she had offended him. She relaxed as he spoke once more.  
“Russian? Watashi o yurushite, besides the few years i studied here in the states, i never really ventured outside the dojo.” she shrugged as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

Sergei shook his head as if to dismiss her awkwardness. She didn’t need to be concerned about such things. They had bigger fish to fry. The tournament would be enough to worry about. She getured to the bartender to refill his drink and looked to Raihiko as if to ask if she would like another.

Rai blinked before she looked to her empty glass. Was he… Buying her drinks? Well she didnt want to be rude. She smiled and have him a nod as she motioned to her drink. She had never had anyone buy her drinks before. “So… You’re fighting in the competition aren’t you?” she asked, hoping he would actually answer this time. He didnt seem to like to talk so she figured maybe she would get further with yes or no questions.

The bartender quickly snatched the glasses up, poured out the vodka and handed them back over. Sergei snatched his up and raised it in the air again. Oh, she had asked him a question? Well, he supposed answering would not really be a problem this time. He had already spoken before. It was not unneccessary either. But all he managed to do was nod his head.

“Well. May the best fighter win.” she smiled as she lifted her glass in cheers and slammed it back. It wasn’t bad. At all. The second was actually more tolerable than the first.

She set her glass down infront of her and smiled at him.

“What is your name?” she asked as she crossed her legs and her arms, resting them inside of the opposite’s sleeves.

As soon as the liquid was drained from his shot glass, he got to his feet, pressed his heels together and gave a more extravagant bow than before. “Sergei Dragunov.” He managed words that time. At least giving his name was not a problem. People knew who he was anyway, even if she didn’t. If it was true that she had been in isolation, then it would mean no harm to give her that information. He sat back down on the seat and gestured to the glasses again.

“Sergei.. That’s… Russian? Are you Russian?” so that was the language he spoke earlier. It had to be. She had never met a Russian before. He seemed so nice… Everything she had ever heard of russians… Well they weren’t good anyways.

Sergei simply stared at her. Not in a rude way, just to listen to her talk. He didn’t really like talking unless it was absolutely necessary, so he would always allow others to do so. He simply nodded again over the question.

Ok so they were getting somewhere. He was a competitor. He was Russian. His name was Sergei Dragunov…

Rae peered over the booth frame and kept her eye on Bryan. The way he downed that drink… Great. He was a fucking alcoholic too? Since when did zombie cyber… Cyborg… Whatever’s get wasted? Did they get wasted? Well, clearly they did. He obviously had his body still, so she assumed he still had to take care of it in a round about way, even if his generator kept him alive no matter what. 

Of course he knew she was watching him. Any idiot could see that much. She was actually not very subtle.

“You gonna just fucking sit there and watch? Or are you gonna have a fucking drink?” he growled as he motioned for two more. Maybe she would be less annoying with a bit of alcohol to chill her ass out.

She shot down so he couldn’t see her. Shit. That did not go according to plan. What now? There was only one thing for it… She got to her feet, the tight dress protesting at the seams as she moved. “Don’t be ridiculous! Watch what?” She scooted closer, her dress making it hard to walk and finally made it to his booth. “I was not watching anything!”

“Sit the fuck down, will ya?” he growled as the waitress brought over the two drinks and set them infrobt of him. He lazily pushed the second glass across from him. “Have a drink. Mayve you will loosen the fuck up.” he snapped as he picked his up and slammed it back.

Rae awkwardly sat down, but managed it after crossing her legs. She collided with the leather with a loud thud and felt like she was sinking into it. What shit booths these were! “Loosen up? What are you talking about now? I’m fine, I’ll have you know. It’s YOU who needs to loosen up. Getting all worked up over me banging on the wall… Did you know they had to replace the entire door!?” She didn’t protest and reached for the glass. Thankfully, it was her preference and so she downed it switfly. “The whole door!”

Bryan grit his teeth as he slammed his glass down, nearly breaking it vefore he motioned to the waitress to bring another.

“If you had answered your fucking door when i knocked that wouldnt have happened.” he snapped as he glared at the waitress. She was being far too slow for his liking.

Rae huffed. “Like I’m going to answer the door when you announce that you want to kick the crap out of me! That’d be stupid!” She folded her arms across her chest and fidgeted in her seat, her dress making creaking sounds. “So, no. The door is not my fault, fuck you very much.”

Sergei leaned back a little to look over at the commotion behind them. The silver haired man was there with what he could only assume was another contestant. Her voice sounded like the one he had heard earlier in the day. 

Rai was about to ask another question when she heard yelling from behind them. She turned to face the booth where a pissed off Bryan sat, looking like he was about ready to kill Rae. What the hell was she thinking? Did she have a death wish?

Sergei blinked and watched the two. He had fought against the silver haired man before, but knew nothing about him. Just that he was a force to be reckoned with, brutal, unrelenting. This woman was either very brave or very stupid.

Bryan narrowed his eyes at Rae. “What are you, a fucking coward?” he snapped as he motions foe another drink.

“You take that back, you piece of shit. I am no coward!” Finally, the waitress brought over more drinks and she snatched it with a nod of thanks, downed it and glared at Bryan. “If I could I’d fucking show you how much of a coward I’m not, but we’re not in the tournament right now are we?”

Raihiko gasped loudly as she jumped off of the bar stool and turned towards Sergei.

“Gomen. I… Must go retrieve my new friend. Please excuse me. I will be right back.” she said as she bowed lowly and then headed for the booth. Sergei watched as she skittered off towards the booth, gestured for another refill and kept his eyes on them. 

Bryan was seething. He was so tempted to say fuck the tournament and paint the walls red with this bitch’s blood.

Just as he was about to retort, the Jap from the first round came walking up.

“Gomen. Rae, come with me… I have to… Speak to you?” she was nervous, looking between the two seething figures.

Rae placed her glass down on the table and glared at Bryan, but before she could bring up what she wanted to ask Raihiko came along. “What? Oh… Huh. OK. I need the bathroom anyway.” 

Raihiko bowed to Bryan before ushering her new friend off.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she whispered harshly as they headed towards the restrooms. “Do you have a death wish?”

As she was awkwardly bundled towards the bathroom, Rae faliled. “What do you mean? He invited me over, I was being polite! Well… Sort of. Can you imagine if I’d refused? It’s kinda hard to determine what to do with him to be honest.” 

“Your definition of polite must differ from mine…” she mumbled as she followed her. 

Rae pushed open the walnut wood door and stepped into the bathroom, her dress still giving her grief. “Anyway, what’s with you and SPETZNAZ Boy over there?”

As she spoke, Rai gave her a confused look. “Who?” it took her a moment before she realized who she was talking about. “Oh! Sergei? Yes well… He offered me a drink. He uh… Does not speak much does he? Is he a usual competitor?” obviously Rae knew of him.

“Oho! SO you were doing the exact same thing I was!” SHe clicked her tongue a few times just to rub it in. “Yes, he has been in for a couple fo tournaments now. I’d be acreful, he’s a dark horse. If you ever have to face him he can really mess with you. He has a close fighting style.” Of course, this was a perfect subject change. She didn’t know why Bryan had offered her a drink, but it seemed to cement her opinion of some kind of malfunction. Maybe it had given him split personalities or some junk.

“Yeah but- no! It isnt the same! I didnt start a fight with him over it!” she threw up her hands in defense.

Wait. A dark horse huh? Wait…. That quiet man was… Silent but deadly?

“He… Seems so nice though.” she said as she looked in the mirror to adjust the fan in her hair, little ringlets of her crimson red hair falling into her face, before she began adjusting her obi.

“Pssh. I didn’t start a fight with him. They just… Sort of… Happen? Like earlier today! I didn’t even do anything besides throw a boot at the wall and he went off on one!” Rae moved over to the sinks and rested against the marble counter top. “Sergei is pretty dangerous, yes. But I don’t think you have to worry too much outside of the tournament. From what I hear he’s pretty non-confrontational. Unlike Mr Asshat out there who wants to murder everything that makes a god damned sound.”

She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her fringe. “Look, I’m not trying to pick fights here, I just want to know what his deal is. I’m used to him being a certain way. you know? When I watched him fight and everything in the media about him… For him to not engage when he got angry just confused me. I don’t like inconsistency, so I gotta know.”

“You, my friend, have a death wish. Maybe he changed? Maybe he really is here for the money? I mean he will get disqualified if he kills someone outside the ring… So…” she wasnt entirely sure that was the case, but it did make sense.

Rae tilted her head. “Eh, not so sure about that. He’s not the type to just change. He’s a killing machine. That is EXACTLY why I want to get to the bottom of it. Call it a safety precaution. If he is malfunctioning, then maybe it’s in everyone’s best interests to know?”

After she was happy with her appearance, she nodded to herself in the mirror before turning to the brunette.  
“I wouldnt look a horse in the gift mouth.” she shrugged as she leaned back against the counter. “Ride it out. See what happens. And for Ami’s sake do not poke the…. Bear?” she was sure that was the saying.

Rae’s face did a dance as she tried to figure out what on earth she was actually saying. “Yeeeah, uh… Well, I don’t fancy getting smooshed, but I need to know what’s going on. Maybe I should report it to the officials? What do you think?” She tugged on the hem of her dress and frowned at it as it pinged back up again revealing far too much thigh for her taste. “Anyway, are you finished? I’m going to head back out and see what I can dig up. Lets hope he doesn’t glass me haha.” She made her way towards the door and opened it to allow Rai to exit.

While the women were in the bathroom, Bryan slammed another drink before contemplating heading back to his room. He needed to lock himself away before he painted the walls with that girl’s blood. The fuck was going on? It was like she was sent here specifically to make him lose his shit and wind up losing his spot in the tournament!

Sergei looked over to the seething Bryan for a brief moment, gestured to the bar tender for a refil of his own, then to Bryan for a refil for him. He slowly made his way over with a fresh glass of whiskey, his nose curling slightly over the aroma. It was not something he enjoyed by any means. It was such an unrefined drink. He thrust it out towards him.

Bryan was two seconds from getting up and leaving when the Russian came his way, thrusting a drink at him. He glared at him for a moment bebfore finally accepting the drink with a nod. Free alcohol was free alcohol. He even got his preferred right.  
“The fuck you want?” he asked before slamming his drink back.

Sergei simply sat down in the booth opposite him and raised his glass, downed it and placed it carefully on the table. He didn’t want to pick fights, or bother the man. He knew what he was like. He was simply there to try and keep the peace. Maybe being silent and sharing the same space would calm him down?

Bryan slammed his drink back as the man sat across from him. Was he that inviting that the man took it as an invitation to sit? He scoffed.

“Fucking women.” was all he managed as he slammed his glass down.

Sergei looked at the man as if to urge him to continue with his line of thought. He was clearly troubled by something in particular. In fact, it was unusual for him to focus on someone besides Lei and Yoshimitsu, he usually ignored them. He knew Bryan was the kind that was always highly strung, but for him to have an actual reason? Maybe he could be of assistance to the cyborg.

Bryan was sick of talking. And who the hell did this guy think he was just inviting himself to his table? Fuck. He knew who he was. He had gone against him in previous tournaments. But what the fuck did he care?

“I’m outta here.” he slammed back the remainder in his glass before standing and trudging out of the bar restaurant after throwing a few dollars on the table. Fuck this. He would go back to polishing his belived zippo.

Sergei simply watched him as he tossed down his cash. He would make sure that the staff got it. He reached for it, bundled it up with his own and slowly made his way back to his own room for the night. He felt bad for leaving without at least bidding the two women goodnight, but he needed to be up for training the following morning.

As soon as Rai walked out of the bathroom she noticed the place was empty. No Brute. No Sergei. She was… Disappointed? She was not quite sure why.

“Well then.” she said as she walked over to where Sergei and she had sat previously and sighed. “I need some food.” she grumbled.

Rae followed close behind almost waddling like a penguin. “Huh. Where’d they go to? Darn it, I was so close to a break through, I could taste it!” She clenched her fist and slammed it on the bar. “You eat, I’m going back to my room. I need to get out of this stupid dress. I’m wearing a fucking snake!” With that, she dashed out, only to pass Paul on the way out who was grinning ear to ear. She had no time to wait through, the dress needed to come off.

Paul sauntered into the bar and saw Raihiko sat there. “Heyyy!” He gave a friendly wave. “Just you in here? I expected it to be packed by now! And here I thought I was late.” He sat down next to her and gestured to the bartender. “So what’s up?”

Rae was glad that there was no one around and she hiked the skirt up as high as she could so she could run back to her room. Had anyone seen, they’d have had an eyeful of underwear. Once she got to her door, she fished in her bra for her key. Oh how she couldn’t wait to get into something more comfortable. She would just have to order room service for food…

Rai blinked as she sat at the bar and picked up a menu. American food was so.. Strange. Burgers. Fried. Onion rings. Buffalo wings? Last she knew, buffalos didnt have wings!

She looked up at the voice and saw Paul sit besides her.

“You missed the fun. That big brute and Rae nearly got into it.” she said with a shrug as she flipped through the menu. Oh. Mushroom swiss? She liked mushrooms. Maybe it would be decent? “How… Are these… Buffalo wings? Do they truly come from a buffalo?” she asked as she pointed to the item on the menu. “These american foods are so… Strange.” she said as the waiter came over.

Paul raised both brows. “She did? Again? What’s their deal anyway? I’ve never seen ol’ Be-ran so friggin’ frazzled over someone who wasn’t Lei or Yosh.” Whan she asked the question about buffalo wings, though, he lost it. He let out a long, loud laugh. It wasn’t to mock her, just that he found it almost adorable. “Noooo, no man. They’re chicken, but the sauce is called buffalo sauce. It’s like hot suace but with a buncha other crap mixed in. It’s good! Wanna split a plate?”

She was going to reply when he started laughing at her. She furrowed her brows not quite understanding what was so funny.

As he explained what buffalo wings really were she felt slightly stupid and could feel herself flush.

“Uh.. Yeah sure.” she smiled as she set her menu down and looked towards the bartender and placed her order.

“And a… Long island ice tea?” she wasnt sure what it was. But it was apparently tea so she went with it. Closest thing to tea on the menu at least.

“Ooohhhh!” Paul patted her on the back with his huge hand. “Good choice! You’ll get wasted on that though if you drink it too fast on an empty stomach!” He leaned over the bar to the tender and winked. “Make another for me too, would ya?” He didn’t usually drink that particular cocktail, but he’d be damned if she was going to drink alone. Not on his watch. “Hey, my buddy Forest should be down soon, he was just taking a shower after our training. You mind if he joins? He won’t eat the wings though, he’s a wuss with spices.”

His words about her drink choice didnt really register as he talked about his buddy coming and joining.

“Hai, it is fine with me.” she shot him a smile as the bartender handed them their drinks. She let out a relieved sigh as she took a long drink, but instantly regretted it. Her eyes watered as she forced it down her throat and quickly pushed it forwards.

“That is the worst tea i have ever had! It is almosy like it is pure alcohol!” she said in indignance as she put a hand over her mouth, afraid she may be sick.

Paul couldn’t help himself and busted out laughing again. “That’s because it’s a cocktail!” He patted her back again and grinned over to the bartender. “ou got any green tea or somethin’?”

The bartender shook his head.

“Well, shucks. looks like you’ll have to make do with it. Trust me, when you get chowing down on them wings, you’ll be thankful for it. It makes it taste a whole lot better.”

It didnt take long for their plate to get there and he was right. It was great with the long tea or whatever it was called. Over all it was a decent meal. She was a bit apprehensive at first. They looked disgusting. But he was right. They were pretty good.

After dinner she bid the duo farewell and headed to her room. As she made it closer, the sounds she was met with coming from Bryan and Rae’s rooms made her cringe. 

—

Rae had managed to fish out her key, opened her new door and wandered into her room. As soon as her feet hit the carpet she started to peel off the dress and threw it at the chair in the corner. Fucking thing. “UGH! That’s SO much better. I can breathe again!” She let out a long, loud sigh and collapsed on the bed for a moment, before shuffling to grab her room service menu from the bedside table.

Bryan was laying in his bed, stripped naked, his legs crossed as his head rest on his arms on his pillow. He stared up at the ceiling as Korn played on the radio.

That damned woman. He couldnt get her smarmy smirk out of his head. Oh how he wished to jump rope with her intestines. Fucking bitch.

Rae snatched up the phone and held for room service. A very chirpy woman answered and Rae was almost surprised by how enthusiastic she was. “Uh, yeah. Can I place an order? I’m starving.”

“Certainly! What would you like?”

After placing an order for fried chicken and a whole plate of hash browns she put the phone down and rubbed her stomach as it growled loudly. ~~As she lay there, she could hear music coming from the room next to hers. Bryan listened to… Korn? Really? Or maybe he just had it on for background noise. Just one more thing to add to the mystery. “Enjoying the music?” She couldn’t help herself and yelled through the wall…

He winced and let out a growl as the very bane of his existance disrupted his thoughts… About her being the bane of his existance. He reached over and turned the music up a little louder, in hopes it would drain her out.

He… Turned it up? Why did he do that? Was it to let her hear it too? No, surely not. It could have only been to drown out her voice. “Well… If that’s how it’s going to be…” With that she started singing along as loud as she could, purposefully out of key.

In his room Sergei’s eyes widened as he heard what sounded like an inflated cat being played like bagpipes to the sound of nu metal.

Bryan froze. What. The fuck. Was that? Was she trying to sing?? It was terrible. He groaned as he held the pillow over his head. With any luck he would suffocate and die.

She laughed loudly, hoping that he got the message. If he was going to act an ass, she was sure as hell going to give it back.

—

Rai was in her room by that point and decided right there and then that she needed to get away. She would get into her outfit and head down to the training room. Maybe… Maybe Sergei would want to join? She couldnt imagine he couldnt ignore the goings on.

After changing to her fighting gear, she wrapped her kimono back around her, tying her obi before heading to the hallway and she quietly knocked on the door across from hers.

Down the hall, Sergei was hoping whatever was dieing would do so peacefully when the knock at his door came. He slowly made his way over, looked through the peep hole and when he saw it was Raihiko he unlocked it. He still felt somewhat bad for leaving the way he did, so he could at least acknowledge her. The door creaked open and he stood looking down at her in silence waiting for her to speak.

She honestly wasnt expecting him to answer. She probably annoyed him. When he did, she blinked.

“Gomen… I was wondering if you wanted to spar with me? I know it is late but… I will not be able to sit peacefully with…” 

In the meantime, Rae had decided to start drumming on the bedside table to Bryan’s music and Sergei shook his head in disbelief.

Just as she spoke the words Rai heard the drumming. “With that…” she grumbled the last part as she looked up at him, his piercing blue eyes drilling holes into her very soul. She wasnt even aware eyes could be such a light shade of blue. 

Bryan groaned as he turned off the radio. Fine. She won that round. Fucking bitch. He couldnt take it anymore. If there was a higher up he prayed they would pit her against him in thw next round. He was seething. He was nearly seeing red. That woman was testing him. She had to be an implant. Set to turn him off the prize at hand. Well fuck them. It wasnt gonna happen.

Rai sighed as she heard the music die down. 

Spar with her? After alcohol? It was unorthodox, but she did have a point. The racket coming from those two rooms was horrendous. He made a mental note to make sure his room was far away from them both next time. He nodded, slowly stepped out to shut his door and straightened his jacket. A little practice would be of no harm.

Wait. Did that mean… He agreed to it? She honestly wasn’t expecting him to agree to it. He didnt seem the type to just have a friendly spar. Nor did he seem the type to really guve other competitors rhe time of day, but she supposed he was just full of surprises.

“I think a lot of the others are in the bar now. They were filing in when i left.” she shrugged. “So it should be empty in the weight and conditioning room.” thank goodness. She wasnt sure she could put up with many others at thwat moment. One of the reasons she asked him instead of Paul or Forrest. Sergei was the strong, silent type. Emphasis on silent.

He nodded again and gestured with a hand for her to lead the way. He was, after all, a gentleman and made sure that she was treated as a lady should. Even if he didn’t know her, respect and manners were free.

—

The music went silent and Rae almost felt disappointed. She let out a sigh and waited as patiently as she could for room service. Maybe she should lay off him… Maybe she should take Rai’s advice. Perhaps if she did she might find out what was going on with him faster.

There was a knock at the door. “YES! At last!” She scurried to the end of her bed, plopped down, grabbed her night dress, yanked it on over her head and went to open the door. She was famished.

Bryan rubbed his face with both hands. She stopped. Oh there was a God. She fucking stopped. Maybe now he could collect what little fucking sanity he had left and get some sleep!

She collected the food with a huge grin on her face and quickly shut the door, dashed to her bed and laid out the platters. There was a lot of food. She hadn’t expected there to be so much. “Hmph…” Her brain clocked over for a moment, a thought crossing her mind that she didn’t know if she should bat aside, or acknowledge. She decided to just go for it. “Hey, shithead. You hungry?”

Bryan’s eyes snapped opem as he heard her speak. As she asked if he was hungry, his stomach rumbled. Damn it. Damn her. Damn his stomach.

He growled as he pulled on a pair of shorts. Hell free food was free food after all. Why the fuck not? Though he felt as though he would regret this. He walked over and banged on the door.

—

Raihiko smiled kindly as she turned to walk down the hall.

As they walked, she remained silent, thoigh she didnt feel it was an awkward silence. It was actually quite welcoming after the horrendous ear splitting shit she had just heard moments ago.

“Are you… Russia native? Like did you live there your whole life?” she asked as she looked over to him for his answer. She figured he wouldnt vocalize his answer, if he answered at all.

As he walked and listened to her, he gave her a small nod in the form of his eyes closing for a brief moment. He hoped he didn’t have to speak too much, but for some reason he didn’t mind so much. She seemed like someone who was worth his time. Unlike most of the other rabble, she wasn’t high on her own sense of importance, or as dull as a post. She seemed very intersting. Like he could learn a few things that would be useful to him.

She assumed it was a nod. She hoped it was a nod at least. So he was born and raised.  
“I was born and raised in Kyoto Japan.” she smiled as she looked back over to him. “Rae said you are… In the russian army?” she asked as she crossed her arms in her sleeves as she walked. They had finally come to the elevator and she pushed the down button.

His eyes widened a little, before narrowing to slits. Rae said what now? Rae knew about him, did she? That was interesting. He would have to find out just how much she knew about him later.

The elevator made a ‘ping’ sound as the doors opened and he gestured for her to go inside before him. Ladies first.

Rai blinked. His sudden look of distaste had not gone unnoticed. Perhaps Rae was wrong? She would drop it for now. She didnt want to anger the man. Especially if he was really as deadly as Rae made him out to be.She wordlessly got onto the lift and hit the ground floor as she waited for him to follow.“I am sorry if i offended you.” she said very quietly as she folded her arms in her sleves once more.

He stepped in, his expression not changing until her words registered in his brain. What? Offended him? “Nonsence.” His face returned to it’s usual stoic expression and he pressed the button to close the doors to speed up the process. She was certainly a self-conscious creature to say the least, very focused on what others thought. He stood for a moment and cleared his throat into a gloved hand as the elevator took them down to the correct floor.

Raihiko blinked. She got him to talk. Again. And his voice was so… Lovely. She wished he would talk more often.She was about to say something, when the lift dinged and opened for their floor. She smiled at him as she stepped off and headed for the gym.When they got there, it was empty. Everyone had either gone up to bed or were in the bar celebrating their first victories.Raihiko walked over to the empty area where they must have moved things away to make room for those who wanted to spar. She untied her obi, shrugging off her kimono. She hung it over a chair before she moved to where she could stretch and warm up a bit.

Rae’s words echoed in her ears. He was a close range fighter. She would have to out manoeuvre him if she wanted the upper hand. He was so large… Perhaps she could use her speed to her advantage?

Sergei didn’t disrobe, or do anything regarding his attire. He was perfect the way he was. One needed to be able to fight in any circumstances in any clothing, after all. He gave his shoulders a couple of rotations, before sliding a gloved hand over his face and into his hair to brush the stray strands back. He took a moment to stretch, but he did it in an almost robotic manner, very calculated and professional.

After stretching a bit, Rai blinked at Sergei. He was still fully dressed? Was he nuts? Was he going to fight in that in the heat??

Granted they were in the AC at the moment… But…After finishing her stretching she walked up across from him, bowing in respect as she would before every match and took stance.He moved towards the middle of the room, tugged on his gloves and readied himself. He bent his knees and raised both hands upwards to his chest. Of course he was going to fight just as he was. He was military. He needed to wear his uniform at all time. His eyes slowly moved over her to try and judge her style. It seemed very Japanese in nature, possibly defensive. Time would tell. He gave a slight nod to her for her to try and take a shot.

Rahiko watched as he nodded at her. She assumed he wished for her to start the spar. Close range fighter. Right. Which means she should be more defensive in this fight. Maybe tire him out? Though he didnt seem the type to tire out easily.She ran at him, a determined look on her face as she decided at the last minute to attack him head on. She wanted to get a feel for him. There was a good chance the would be put against one another at one point so she wanted to know how he would likely react to each move.

He raised his arms higher and crossed his forearms to block any possible attack aimed at his upper body and face, as he took a slight step backwards to make sure he was stable from the inertia. He would be ready for her. It was a good opportunity to study her fighting style. He was always interested in learning about new techniques and it could prove of use. He decided to throw a punch to see how she would react to it.

He managed to deflect her head on attack. As he made to punch at her, she quickly brought her arms up to hopefully push his arms away as she made to attack his torso. Rae wasnt kidding. He liked close range. She felt so strange being so close to him. It was for the spar she reasoned. He was a close range fighter. This was supposed to happen. But he smelled so good…

With his shoulders hunched, he quickly moved around her to the side and bent backwards to unleash a more powerful punch. He figured since she was in a defensive mode, she could take it.

Rai barely had enough time to pull her arms back and block his attack. Even through her arm guards she could feel the raw power behind his hit. He even managed to push her back a few feet. Shit. He would be a hell of an opponent to go against in the tournament.

She didnt linger. She ran at him again, crouching down to attempt to sweep his feet from under him.It wasn’t as if he was going all out. On the contrary, he had actually made sure he was holding back. After all, he didn’t want to do anything too rash. His feet were suddenly taken out from under him and he tumbled to his rear with a thud. He responded instintcually without thinking and shot out a foot, booting towards her shin.He nearly hit her as he went down and kicked out. She quickly side rolled out of the way back back flipped a safe distance away as she gave him a smile. He didnt seem too strong for a contestant. Though she knew she shouldnt underestimate him… It seemed almost too easy.He quickly jumped to his feet, balling his fists up and tightening his stance. She wanted to actually go at it properly? That was the vibe he got from her. She seemed to be both taking it seriously and enjoying it at the same time. Well, that meant he could too. He stepped into his attack, swinging a left and right hook, followed by a low punch aiming for the gut.

She gasped as she attempted to flip out of the way. Something changed in his fighting style. Suddenly he was much quicker. She would have to watch out.As he struck out both ways, she quickly ducked and threw up her arms to block the blow that was meant for her gut, but she lost her footing and was knocked back on her back from the power of the blow. What. The fuck. Was that?

She quickly flipped back onto her feet and ran right at him, jumping up to attack from above, her fists out to strike him.He straightened up as she fell backwards and regarded her with a look of… Was that concern? As she righted herself, charged and jumped, he wasted no time in hunching his back again ready. As she was coming downwards, he too made his own attack. Rather than defeniding himself, he ducked low and raised his fist in an uppercut.

She realized her mistake far too laste as his fist collided with her gut and sent her flying back, the air knocked from her sails. But she wouldnt give up. She quickly got to her feet and went on the defensive as she knew any normal opponent. Would take this opporotunity to go in for a finish. She wouldnt give up so easily. And she would make sure he knew that.

She was breathing hard. Her stomach was killing her. She knew if she didnt have the padding in her abdomen via her outfit, he probably would have given her some internal bleeding. Didnt make it hurt any less. But she wouldnt give up. She stood, grounding herself, waiting for his attack.

Sergei straightened up as he watched her strike a defensive pose. Her breathing was off and her face seemed flushed. Pained, even. No. That was enough. He adjusted his gloves and clacked his heels together with a curt bow, before moving closer.

She watched as he bowed. Was this some kind of trick? As he moved towards her, she stiffened, readying herself for anything. Perhaps he was a dirty fighter? Feign stopping the spar only to take her out? She couldnt be sure. Her Sensei had warned her about how some of the fighters would stop at nothing to gain the upperhand.

He slowly offered his hand for her to take. In his mind, the round was over. He would not subject her to anymore. It was clear that the alcohol had inhibited her fighting skills. That was what he assumed at least. How else would that have connected so quickly into their session?

She let out a huff. She wasnt so sure what his tactics were. Perhaps there were none? Perhaps he was sick of fighting her already? She was not weak. She knew that. She would have been …. The alcohol. It must have hit her harder than she assumed. She felt fine. She didnt even feel buzzed! Perhaps… That was how the russian alcohol, whatever it was, worked? Great. Now he probably saw her as a weak opponent. She relaxed her stance finally as she watched his hand. What was she supposed to do? She was already standing. She blinked before holding her own hand out. What was the worst that could happen?

He took her hand, leaned down and placed a light kiss on the back of her knuckles. As soon as he had done so, he clicked his heels again and moved away. He had plenty of time to have a proper match with her, but he didn’t intend on doing so intoxicated, no matter how little the effects. That was how people got hurt and thus unable to compete. And where would the fun in that be? Less sport for him? Not on his watch.

Rai blinked as she felt his soft lips on her knuckles. So the fight was done. He… Kissed her hand.“I…uh… I guess that tea that wasnt really tea hit me a little harder than i thought.” she mumbled as she walked over to grab her kimono and pulled it on, tying her obi tight around her waist before wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.He listened to her talk and gave a very subtle nod. They would just have to try again another time when she had not consumed any alcohol. That was, if she wanted to. He did not know if he had put her off by hurting her in such a way, not that she should have been bothered by such a simple punch being in the tournament and all. If he was honest with himself, in the pit of his stomach he was suddenly concerned that she wouldn’t be able to handle some of the harder hitters. His mind instantly went to Bryan, Paul and Kazuya. He genuinely hoped it was the alcohol.

He gestured to the door and offered to let her go first if she wished to return to her room.


	5. Chapter 5

Rae almost felt proud of herself for not being antagonistic. “It’s unlocked, come in. You don’t need to bash your fist through it this time.” Oh, darn. And she was being so good too.

Bryan opened the door and walked in, letting it slam behind him.

“Hopefully your choice in food is better than your ability to sing.” he griped as he walked in and noticed the array of food. What the hell? Did she plan on feeding the entire hotel!?

Her eyes wandered as she caught sight of his shorts and she pursed her lips together. “Well, I ordered fried chicken and hash browns. They gave me a butt load and I’m not a fatass who could gorge myself on all of it, so…” She grabbed a piece of chicken. “I figured since you didn’t eat earlier…” She was shit at this sort of thing, so she didn’t say anything else. Instead she just crammed the chicken in her mouth and crossed her legs under her.

Was this a trick? What was the catch? Was it poisoned? The joke was on her. Poison barely did shit to him.

He plopped down on rae’s bed and snatched a bit of chicken off the platter and took a healthy bite. He hated to admit it, but it was actually quite good.

An awkward silence fell as the two ate. Rae just kept herself occupied with the chicken until she couldn’t take it any longer. “What’s your deal then?” She swallowed the meat in her mouth and looked over to the huge muscle-bound man sat on her bed. “I’ve seen you in previous tournaments. You never hold back. Why have you held back during this one?”

Bryan narrowed his eyes as he cleaned the chicken bone and tossed it on the plant and grabbed another.

“That prize money happens to be worth more than your life. Why? You want me to kill you? Cause that can be arranged.” he growled as he annihilated the whole leg in one bite.

She watched for a moment as the leg disappeared in his mouth. That was a mental image she didn’t think she would ever be able to shake. “What? That’s not it at all.” She reached for a hash brown and munched on it casually. “I’m used to watching your fights. You’ve always been so…” She glanced at him and attempted to pick her words carefully. Start as you mean to go on and all that rubbish. “Relentless. First Lei, now me and I can honestly say that I never in a million years expected to be sat in a hotel room on a bed eating fried chicken with you as if it was the most normal thing in the world.”

Bryan spit the clean bone out and threw it on the plate.

“Why is it so hard for you to velieve that i am in it for the money? The fuck is your problem? You that much of an idiot that you believe everything you see on TV?” he snapped before grabbing a hashbrown and tossing it n his mouth. If she thought he didnt want to tear her limb from limb that very moment, she was sorely mistaken. Nothing would give him more pleasure.

Her eyes never left the bone. It was so clean. How did he…? “Uh… No. That’s not it.” Her eyes flicked back up to his face. “I mean, besides the fact that I am surprised the money means that much to you, I’m just not a fan of inconsitencey. If I’m used to someone being a certain way I will naturally wonder what the fuck is going on if they aren’t. Also…” She flicked her bone from earlier at him, not too hard, but enough for it to collide with him. “Don’t call me an idiot, or I’ll cram that down your throat.”

Bryan’s eyes narrowed as he growled. “Don’t fucking tempt me. I got something to cram down your fucking throat.” he threatened as his fists clenched. She was fucking worried about his inconsistancy? Who the fuck was this woman??

She reached for another piece of chicken and chewed on it irritably. “I’d like to see you try. At least that’d be more like your usual self that I’m used to seeing.” She shifted around so that her legs were no longer folded under her, adjusted her nightwear and pushed the plate of hash browns closer to him. It was then that she realised what he actually meant and her eyes widened.

He got that maniacal glint in his eye as he smirked at her.

“You fucking want it?” he growled as he quickly jumped up and pinned her to her bed, not caring that he managed to throw food everywhere. He leaned down close to hear ear , his throat rumbling with each word. “You fucking got it.” It was time to teach this bitch a lesson.

Rae let out a strange sort of yelping noise as he grabbed hold of her and all but squashed her into the mattress. “Get the fuck off me before I…” As he growled into her ear she felt her skin involuntarily prickle and she squirmed uncomfortably. “I will cram my fucking fist right in your god damn filthy mouth, so help me!”

Bryan grinned as he tightened his grip on her wrists and held them down above her head.  
“You mean… With these little twigs? Heh. Time to show you how ruthless i can be.” he growled as he dug his hips into hers to hold her into position.

Meanwhile an intoxicated Forrest and Paul came stumbling towards Rae’s door. It was only 10pm. It was too early to turn in in their eyes.

“Hey Rae! Let’s go out! There’s a bar right up the road!” paul called as he knocked loudly on the door.

Bryan froze, letting out a growl.

“Fucking beat it! She’s busy!” he yelled out.

Both Paul and Forrest looked to one another, not expectigm that.

“Rae, you okay?” Forrest called. They were a bit worried. If Bryan was in there…

Rae scowled up at him angrily. “They are not twigs, you dick!” Suddenly, Paul and Forest interrupted and she watched as Bryan yelled at the door. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, before inhaling and finally speaking. “Uh… Yeah, I’m OK guys. I, uh… Everything is fine, I’m just…” She cringed inwardly for what she was about to say, especially after what Bryan had insinuated earlier. “Eating. Go ahead and have a good time. Raincheck?”

Paul and Forest lowered their brows at each other, unsure whether to believe her or not.

Bryan grinned down at the little mouse below him.  
“Hear that? Now beat it!” he yelled before moving down to lick up her neck. He wouldnt do anything to jeopardize his winnings, but he was going to thoroughly freak her shit out and show her he meant business.

She tasted of sweat and something more… Sweet. He couldnt quite put his finger on it.

“Ignore him, he’s just being cranky because he’s h…” She was interrupted by him leaning down and licking at her neck. She instantly froze, a wave of tingles rolling over her entire body. What the fuck was he doing?

“You sure?” Paul scratched the back of his head. Should he go in just to make sure? No, that would be rude.

Rae managed to exhale a quick ‘yes’, only for it to sound almost breathless.

Forest just shrugged at Paul in confusion and the two made their way out of the hotel, sneaking past the guards to go drink.

Bryan grinned. She was scared. He could feel her shivering. The way her voice cracked. He grinned in triumph. She even had enough decency to not call for help. He had to give her that. As she squeaked out her yes he bit into her neck, he could feel his teeth break skin as a bit of metalic spurted into his mouth. His eyes widened as his pupils dialated. He was slowly losing himself to his instincts and he loved every second of it. He instinctually ground his hips into hers, pushing her towards submission as he felt himself grow hard. Wait.. What? Was that even… Possible? He didnt even know it worked anymore! But sure enough, he put both her wrists into one of his large hands, still above her head as he reached down and rubbed himself through his cargo shorts. He was getting hard all right.

As his teeth bit into her flesh, she let out a long and unexpected moan. “The fuck are you d…” She instantly stopped talking as she felt him grind his hips against her. She could feel something poking her. Was he…? She did not expect that. She thought he was just trying to make a point. Maybe rough her up a little, but this was something else entirely. A wave of panic rose in her chest, but it died down as he pinned her wrists with a single hand and seemed to fish around downstairs with his other hand. She just stayed silent. Not that she could find any words to begin with.

Well that was certainly unexpected. What was he supposed to do with- _oh wait._

He grinned maliciously as he looked down at the brunette pinned beneath him. Oh he would teach her a lesson all right.

Rae’s face must have been a picture. She squirmed under him as she tried to figure out just what it was he was thinking. She had been just as confused as he was. He still had that part? And it was still working? No. Why was she even thinking about 'IT’? She scrunched her eyes shut for a second and took a breath as her neck throbbed with pain from where he had bitten into it. She couldn’t do anything, he had her totally pinned. Maybe she should have asked Paul and Forest to stay after all.

Bryan grinned as he moved just enough to reach down and rip her night clothes from her torso. Her shirt first, then her shorts. He had to admit, her tits were pretty nice. He took his free hand and roughly grabbed at one.

“I am gonna show you how merciless i can be.” he growled as he leaned down to bite at her neck again. He could still taste the metallic liquid on her skin. The sight of it just causing his erection to grow.

What was happening? A moment ago they had been eating chicken and now he was on top of her threatening to… Her clothes tore from her body like paper and she let out a loud, surprised shriek, but her breath hitched in her throat as he grabbed hold of her chest and leaned down to her neck again. She couldn’t let him… He couldn’t do that to her… He wasn’t like that, was he? She knew he was viscious and relentless, but not a pervert. Her mind raced through all her options and there wasn’t many. She could call for help, but how pathetic would that look? She was a fighter! She could try and fight him, push him off maybe. But even if she could, how would he react. Maybe… she should just do nothing…

Bryan leaned back as he let go of her to unleash his manhood. Of course he had no intentions of using it. He would just be teaching her a lesson. Don’t fuck with Bryan Fury.

He leaned down, close to her ear. “This fucking real enough for you?” he smirked as he rubbed himself against her leg.

As he released his grip on her, her eyes travelled down and focusseed on his incredibly large member which he was displaying proudly. Her eyes must have been like saucers. He was so much bigger than expected. She had seen him in his underwear, but completely hard, he was monstrous! Something inside her tugged and she squirmed around as he leaned in to her ear to speak. All she could muster was a breathy 'woah’.

He stopped suddenly. He was not expecting her to just… Gawk. His eye twitched as he suddenly let her go.  
“Tch.” he quickly shoved himself back into his shorts.  
“Lay the fuck off.” was all he said before he exited and headed back for is room.

What the fuck was that? He was trying to scare her into submission! She was supposed to be afraid!

She had started to move herself forwards, but when he pulled away and stuffed himself back into his shorts she came back to her senses. “Wh… What? Lay off!?” As he left, she sat bolt upright and yelled after him. “HEY! YOU ABSOLUTE ASS, YOU RUINED MY NIGHTWEAR!”


	6. Chapter 6

Sergei had been up for a number of hours and was down in the gym practicing for the following days heats. He had made sure the hotel provided him with tea in the form of a china cup, saucer and teapot, as well as chilled bottles of water. He at least wanted an option or two.

Raihiko awoke feeling somewhat sore. She rolled out of her bed and groaned. She looked down at her stomach where Sergei connected and groaned. There was a giant, angry purple bruise the size of a damn basketball. She was glad her fighting garb was padded. That could have been really bad. She couldnt stop thinking about his lips on her hand. He was… An enigma. She grumbled lightly as she moved to the restroom to get ready for the day. No more alcohol. And she would go out to get her own damn tea.

Bryan awoke the next day feeling… Tight in his underwear. Oh yeah. He forgot about that. What the fuck was he supposed to do with that? It had been so long… He groaned as he pulled his skivvies down, his member springing to attention as he grabbed ahold of it. Damn. He forgot how great that felt.

Rae had barely slept at all. She was angry, confused, irritable and her nightwear was in tatters. She had spent the entire night assaulted with mental images of Bryan’s junk and every time she started drifting off to sleep, her dreams got fucked up.

She sprang from her bed, tossed on her jumpsuit and instantly left her room in a complete whirlwind of emotions. She hammered on his door, not caring that other guests could hear. “OPEN THE FUCK UP!”

Paul suddenly appeared in his doorway down the ahll looking horribly hungover, a hand over half his face. “Gnuuhhh, what’s all the racket?”

Rae ignored him, she was too focused.

Bryan growled as he was just about to finally release, but was interrupted by the woman of his nightmares banging on his door. He walked over, not caring that he was naked and standing at attention as he ripped opem the door.

“The fuck do you want?” he yelled, standing in all his naked glory.

Raihiko grumbled as she heard the commotion outside. Great. They were at it again.

She quickly changed into her work out gear, and threw on a blue Kimono as she headed out the door. She didnt even bother looking over as she headed down to the gym. This wasnt a vacation. She needed to keep up on her daily routines.

As the door swung open, Rae leaped backwards in horror… Was it horror? Or just shock? She wasn’t quite sure, but her eyes fixed on his lower region and refused to move. “I… I uh…” She almost forgot what she had even banged on his door for. “You… You owe me n-nightwear!” She finally managed to look him in the eye, a frown on her face. “You tore it to pieces!”

Paul gave Rai a quick wave before returning inside to crash again. He couldn’t be bothered to deal with anything, his head hurt too much. And if bryan was going to kill her, he’d have done it before.

Bryan glared down at her. The fuck was she going on about?

He quickly grabbed her and shoved her inside his dark room. He didnt need an audience for this.

—

Sergei was giving one of the dummies the staff brought to each location a good beating. He wanted to focus on his quick jabs, as well as his sweeps. The dummy swayed awkwardly, the sackcloth fabric groaning at the seams wth each attack that connected. He grunted with each punch, making sure all his energy went into each one.

Raihiko made it down to the gym and pulled off her kimono before stretching. The gym was much more packed at this time. A lot of the contestants that hadnt spent all night drinking were up early to start their daily routines.

Raihiko stopped when she spotted Sergei beating on a practice dummy. His movements were somewhat ridgid, yet over all his whole technique was fluid and concise. She couldnt help but stare.

He was getting into the groove, as it were, his spark was there and he was now giving it all he got, his voice now echoing through the hall with each hit.

King was stood to one side warming up, Anna was trying her best to hit on Lee Chaolan who was enjoying every minute of it, unashamedly so. Jin Kazama was working a dummy in the right corner, Forest was up and trying his best to focus, practicing his kicks and Nina was busy trying not to murder her sister.

Rai couldnt help the feelings in the pit of her stomach as she watched him work the dummy. So focused.

She was suddenly brought from her trance from movement out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly a very large, muscular…. Cat person, a fucking cat person, walked in front of her to get to a weight bench. Ok. Now she had seen it all.

She quickly focused, trying not to look at Sergei again for fear that she will not be able to break the trance this time. She spotted forrest and nodded. In acknowledgement as she walked over to a tredmill. What better way to warm up than a little run? She stretched her arms and her back out before getting on the tredmill and setting it to a good running pace, setting the steepness level to “hill”. The whole time she jogged, she couldnt help but look over to the Russian fighter. 

King took one of the training dolls and began doing a series of his wrestling moves on it, making sure to avoid splitting the fabric. He didn’t want to be showered in sand. Sand sucked. It got in all the cracks.

Sergei unleashed a powerful combo and let out a long, almost guttural roar. It was not uncommon among the competitors, so no one batted an eye lid.

Lee spotted Raihiko. He had never seen her before. New blood! He slowly scooted over, leaving Anna to flirt with thin air. She may have been on the treadmill, but it didn’t stop him from saying hello. He leaned on the side of the machine and lowered his shades. “Well hello.”

She wanted so bad to look back and watch him. Something about him just intrigued her. She could always chalk it up to wanting to know her competition after all.

The sudden voice besides her shook her from her thoughts and she nearly lost her footing. Oh was she glad her Sensei wasnt here. So many welts from the kendo stick right now.

She looked over to the silver haired man and gave him a friendly smile as she upped the pace on her tredmill.

“Kon'nichiwa.” she greeted in kind. She barely noticed the woman fuming behind her as the man talked to her rather than she.

“Ah, Japanese. Well… こんにちは to you too.” He removed his shades and slipped them into his jacket pocket. “Chaolan. Lee. I have not seen you before in this tournament. Believe me… I’d have remembered it.” His voice oozed seductive confidence.

Sergei all but snapped the dummy in two with his final move. Once he was finished, he straightened up, fished into his inner pocket for his silk handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead. That would be enough for the moment, perhaps he would train again later in the evening. He moved over to the table behind the dummies and poured himself a cup of tea, sat in one fo the wooden seats, crossed one leg over the other and let out a sigh through his nose.

Raihiko blinked. She could do one of two things. She could feign not being able to undertsnad qhat he said, or she could go along with it… Though his outwardness did make her feel a bit… Conscious of herself.

“Hai… This is my first year. I take it you are a fighter?” she asked as she looked ahead, trying to concentrate on her task at hand rather than the looks she was recieving from this man.

He nodded, his silver hair swishing around his face. “Indeed. I am a regular. I try to use these tournaments to my advantage. To gain battle data for my robotic creations. Plus, the money is always tempting, not that I am short of it or anything.” He looked over to Anna, who was pouting. “I apologise, I must return. I look forward to… Knowing you better.” He swaggered off back to Anna who wrapped an arm around his waist and glared back at Rai like a sour faced harpy.

Sergei had seen it all. He sipped on his cup of tea with his usual bland expression, but inside he couldn’t help but wonder what situation the newcomer would end up in. She seemed far too polite. Not polite in the sense of the word that he lived by, but in the sense that she could easily be taken advantage of. At least, that was his initial impression. For all he knew it was a mask she wore.

Raihiko stopped the treadmill and easily slid off, grabbing a towel from a near by rack and wiping her face with it. She said nothing as he walked away. As the woman mean mugged her, she stuck her tongue out as she pulled down her right bottom eyelid in a mocking way.

What, did she think she was out to get her man? Fuck that.

Anna scowled and put her hands on her hips, but Lee urged her to follow him out of the gym and up to the bar. Nina slowly made her way over to Raihiko and tutted. “You won’t get anywhere with her, she’ll just cause you trouble.” With that, she too exited the room.

King was busy grappling with his dummy as Sergei kept his eyes firmly on Raihiko. He gestured for her to come over with two fingers and pointed towards his pot of tea. It wasn’t what she was used to, but it was something.

She looked back at the female attached to the voice and frowned. She sort of… Looked like that woman on Lee’s arm. Were they related? Great. So she made her first enemy.

She shrugged as she watched the woman leave and threw the towel around her neck as movement caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She turned to see Sergei mmotioning to the tea pot in front of him. Oh. Finally. Something normal!!

She smiled as she wiped a bit more sweat away from her brow and walked towards him.

“Ohayōgozaimasu! Wherever did you manage tp get this? It is like you read my mind this morning.” she smiles as she sat in the chair besides his. “I was actually going to go out this morning after my workout to find something close to tea at least.” she grinned as she crossed her legs. He really was an enigma. Buys her drinks, beats the shit out of her, kisses her hand, offers her tea. Well then. Were all Russians this strange?

He nonchalantly pointed to the spare cup. It was probably not the tea she was used to drinking, but it was tea. It seemed the hotel had gone out in a panic and ordered more in. He didn’t blame them. To be honest, he was tempted to threaten them to supply it to make everyone happy, after all it’s what good, hospitible hotels do.

He slurped on the remnants in his cup and placed it down next to the spare one on the tray.

Raihiko happily poured herself some tea. She took the glas and blew on the steaming liquid a little before taking a drink. True, it was not what she wa used to, but it wasn’t terrible.

“So…” she started as she set her cup down. “You start your days early?” she asked, trying to make conversation. She wasnt sure why she bothered. It wasnt like he would answer aside from a nod or shake of his head.

As expected, he simply nodded. He did wake earlier. He was used to it. The idea of sleeping in was not something that really crossed his mind a whole lot. Even though the tournement was not going to be held until the next day, he didn’t want to take it easy. It was a serious competition. He swapped his leg and crossed the other over the opposite knee as he watched her drink.

King, on the other hand, had finished. He wiped himself down with a towel and made his way out of the gym with his duffle bag full of gear. What he really used no one ever seemed to know.

Of course. Just a nod. Go figure.

Rai watched as the cat person, King as she had found out, walked out of the gym.

“This whole thing is… Different to how i pictured it. I figured it would be more… Human. Less robots and… Cat people… And zombies.” she shrugged before lifting the cup to her lips and taking another sip. It definitely warmed the soul. She didnt know why she talked so openly with him. He was so easy to talk to? Perhaps that was it?

Cat people? Sergei followed King out with his eyes and then looked back to Rai. Oh, cat people! A small smirk destroyed his stoic expression. And zombies? Who did she mean, was she referring to him? Oh no, wait, Bryan. Of course. He supposed he could be classed as such. The room was now empty and Sergei rested his chin on his palm. “King is human.”

She nearly dropped her cup as he spoke. She wouldnt lie, it had taken her by surprise.

“He’s human? What’s with the face and tail?” she asked as she looked at him. Was that… Almost a smile? My he was just full of surprises!

He inhaled through his nose. She would find out soon enough. All she’d have to do was watch him fight. He slowly rose from his seat and offered to take her cup if it was empty.

She blinked before looking down to her empty cup and handed it to him.  
“Thank you for the tea.” she smiled at him. “So… What are your plans for today?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.

He took it and placed it on the tray neatly, before looking back at her, his hands behind his back. His eyes moved around, unsure what to really do. It wasn’t unneccessary, he supposed, so he took a small breath. “Nothing. Poetry.” He was feeling exhausted already.

Raihiko blinked. She got him to talk again! A new record! Maybe… She could get him to talk more? She looked around realizing they were alone. Maybe he just didnt want to talk infront of others? Wait. He said poetry? Really?

“Do you write poetry?” she asked as she stood and pushed in her chair. She was genuinely curious. She loved listening to poetry. Maybe he could read some to her?

He shook his head no and produced his small leatherbound book from his inner jacket pocket and cautiously offered it to her. He didn’t know why, but he had never really shown anyone the book before. This was an exception. He cleared his throat and straightened up waiting to hear what she thought. He read poetry. He was not amazing at writing it. Words were not what he was particularly talented at.

Raihiko blinked at he produced a small leather bound book and offered it to her. She took it with a nod and opened it up to the first page. It was…. In Russian.  
“I… Gomen…. I can not read this…” she said as she flipped through a few pages before handing it back to him. She wasnt sure what else to do. She could speak a few languages, English being the only one she could speak fluently besides her native tongye and Russian was not one of them.

He took it from her and slowly nodded. Perhaps she would learn. Maybe. He thought that it might not be likely. He knew a little Japanese, but not too much, so he supposed they were equal in that regard. He made a slight grunting noise, but it was only just audible. “Hn… I… Could…Tr…” He stopped himself. No. He had better things to do than translate it for someone he had only just met. He would be too busy with the tournement. He straightened up again, pulled on his jacket and began to move to the door.

Raihiko blinked as he left. Was he about to offer to translate for her?  
“I… Would like that…” she mumbled just above a whisper. She wasnt even sure he heard her as she moved to grab her Kimono and pull it on, straightening it out before tying her obi sash.

—

Rae stumbled as he shoved her inside, but caught herself on the chest of drawers to the side. “Ow… The fuck!?” She turned around to face him, but was distracted by his room. Dark. So dark. The curtains were shut. It fel gloomy. It smelled of stale smoke and whiskey.

“The fuck you think you are? Did i not get my point across last night? Or have you come for the real thing?” he grinned, his tone dripping with malice as his eyes readjusted to the lack of light once more and he could see her leaning against the dresser.

“Don’t make me laugh. You couldn’t even finish what you started last night!” She scoffed and moved over to the small table. She could just about make out what was in the room and spotted the zippo next to a soft cloth. So the rumours were true. He had a hobby… Fucking adorable. Her lips curled upwards at the corners in a sly manner, before she looked back in his direction… Only to get an eyefull again. “Jesus.”

Bryan took a step towards the woman and held his fist up, his erection bobbing with the movement.  
“I could finish it now! That can fucking be arranged!” he threatened before he all but growled at her

She had to look away and swallowed rather loudly. “Phhh, wow. OK. Sure you could. Like you could finish Lei?” OK, even she had to admit that was a low blow. She regretted it as soon as she said it.

Bryan growled as he took her up and all but threw her on his bed. “I will show you how i can finish.” he growled as he jumped on top of her, wasting no time in ripping her jumpsuit open below the waist. He parted her legs quickly.  
“I hope this fucking hurts.” he growled as he all but shoved himself inside of her.

He was not expecting her to be so tight. So warm. It nearly hurt, but the pain merely fueled his want to take her and make her submit.

“What? WHAT!?” As she plummeted to the mattress she flailed and tried to grab the blanket in an attempt to get back to her feet as fast as she could. But it was no use. He had grasped her jumpsuit and tore it open. No! She didn’t have a spare! What was she going to do!? She had no time to dwell on it, however, as he yanked her legs apart and crammed himself in. He was huge and it hurt a lot. She tried her best not to let on, but it was hard to keep her voice in check as he pushed even further in. SHe was not a virgin, but she was not accustomed to someone so… Monstrously large. She couldn’t help the pained cry that spilled from her lips. “Oh fuck, oh fuck!” She clenched her fists, squeezing the blanket beneath her. “That hurts, it fucking hurts…”

Her yelling did nothing but fuel the fire in his gut as he burried himself to the hilt. He nearly lost it as he pulled back, only to shove himself right back in. “You fucking wanted this.” he grunted as he hunched over her and held her hips tightly, his fingers digging in.

She didn’t want THIS at all. She just wanted to know what was going on with him. To get to the bottom of his strange behaviour. To understand why he was not the same as she’d seen so many times before. She held her breath as he pushed back in again, but hooked her legs behind his rear as she let out the breath she was holding in a long, extended ‘yes’. She didn’t want it, but now after he’d pushed himself inside, feeling him within her, the sensation of his fingertips digging into her bare hips… She certainly did.

Bryan picked his pace up a bit, not quite paying attention to the worm beneath him as he continued his assault. It had been so long since he had the touch of a woman… He nearly forgot how fucking wonderful it felt. He reached a hand up to grasp her neck firmly as he picked up his pace a bit.

As his hand encircled her throat, she couldn’t help but get into it. She moved her hips to try and match his pace and locked her heels together behind his rear. He was too much. It was overwhelming, painful, but amazing. “Harder!” She managed to croak out as his hand squeezed her windpipe.

Wait. Did she…. Was she… No. She was! The little fucking minx was enjoying this! That was NOT the reaction he had hoped for. He narrowed his eyes at her as he did the opposite. He slowed right down to a snail’s pace, grinning down at her as his grip on her neck tightened a little. He leabed down close to her ear.  
“Don’t fucking tell me what to do.” he growled in her ear.

The way he spoke, that growl, she felt a shiver roll all the way down her spine and she let out a strangled groan as he slowed and put more pressure on her throat. It was torture! Why was he… He wasn’t still trying to get one over on her was he? At a time like this? Really!? She squirmed irritably under him, the need for him to move more overwhelming her entirely. “N… No! P… Please!

There it was. The begging. He had her begging- wait. For him to continue? Fuck this. He would give it to her.

He let go of her neck, pulling out from her so that he could flip her. He grabbed her hips, hiling them up before shoving himself back into her. He reached down to grab her hair, pulling her head back as he hammered into her.

She hardly knew how to react as he flipped her over, she simply allowed it to happen and groaned loudly as he shoved himself back in. She tried to lower her hips a little so he was aligned properly, but he tugged her hair making the position awkward. Painfully so. But that made no nevermind. As he pounded into her, she circled her hips, matching his pace as best as she could. Her voice grew louder and louder with each passing moment and she ended up in such a worked up state that she had drool running down her chin. He was magnificent.

Bryan continued to jack hammer into her, grunting out his pleasures as he gave her rear a good slap, the sound echoing through the room as he gripped her hair a little tighter. It didnt take him long to finish. And it was violent. He growled loudly as his movements became more erratic, more frantic.

Rae shuddered as she felt him empty inside of her and she felt suddenly weak. What had just happened? Why had they… She groaned a low and sulty sort of moan as she attempted to mop her chin up with an unstable hand.

Bryan breathed heavily as he tossed her to the side. Oh man. He missed that shit. Probably the only thing he missed about being human.

"Get… The fuck out.” was all he could managed to growl out as he crashed on his bed, his breathing nearly labored. He felt… Lighter.

Rae took a moment to steady her breathing after being dumped to one side and she slowly but surely slid off the bed and made her way to the door in silence a horrible trickling sensation running down her inner thighs. As soon as she opened the door, she made sure no one was around before running to her door. Alas, she couldn’t find her key in the remnants of her poor jumpsuit. She went back to Bryan’s door, only to find it had locked. Great…

Paul was headed back to his room when he came across a most… Disturbing sight. There Rae stood in a most dishevelled appearance. What the hell happened to her?

“Raeee what the hell happened man? You look-” it was then he realized she was nearly bare, her suit ripped from the waist down. He blinked before he yelled and pointed. “What the fuck!” he cried out before tearing his top off and wrapping it around her. “Who the fuck jumped you??”

Rae jumped in alarm as Paul came out of nowhere. “Oh shit!” She tried to cover herself as best as she could, but it was not very easy. “Jeeze, I just… Uh… Got in a bit of a rough, uh…” She motioned to the room next to hers with her head as he placed his top over her. She tied it in place so that she was not on full display anymore. “Thanks. I owe you one. I lost my damn key.”

Paul blinked as he looked from her to the door that led to Bryan’s room. The wheels started turning, you could almost smell the smoke, before realization hit him. They… _OH. THAT MADE SENSE NOW._

“Uh… Wait here. I will go get you a spare!” he said as he stumbled down to the end of the hall.

Rae watched as the man frantically dashed away from her leaving her alone again in the hallway. She tugged on the top that she’d tied around her waist self-consciously as she felt that horrendous trickling sensation. Oh how she hoped none of it got on Paul’s top. How would she explain it?

It didnt take long for Paul to get back. It took a lot of arguing but he finally convinced the clerk to give him the spare. And by convinced he meant he stole it when he wasnt looking.

He quickly got back to Rae and unlocked the door for her. “Can I do anything?” he asked. He wasn’t sure what it would be but he would offer.

Rae was feeling a little awkward. Had he really figured it out? Was that 'oh’ an 'oh’ of realisation? What if Bryan found out that he knew. She shook her head. “I think I’m good. I just…” She looked downwards. “I have no spare jumpsuit, so I think I’m a bit screwed. Haha.” She realised what she had said. _“OH NO NOT LIKE THAT!”_


	7. Chapter 7

It was another beautifully hot night at the hotel. Raihiko had gone out and wondered around the area known as Phoenix. It was hot, it smelled funny, and she was getting strange looks for wearing her best kimono. The locals obviously had no taste.

Bryan woke from his nap feeling odd. He didnt like it. That fucking woman got one on him again. He would make sure it wouldnt happen again. Fuck that.

Rae had hidden in her room wondering what to do about the fact that her jumpsuit was ruined. She had nothing to compete in. The clothing the staff had sent her was just far too revealing. It was something Anna or Nina would wear, for Pete’s sake. She had no choice though, she couldn’t very well hide in her room. She rooted through the bag full of stuff and found the least slutty thing she could, amking sure to give that evil snake skin dress the side-eye as she did so. Once she had dressed in the frilly denim jumpsuit that looked as if it would be far more at home on a Japanese girl than her, she slowly made her way down to the restaurant for food.

Sergei had been in his room for the rest of the day. He had taken his food in there and he had only decided to venture out after dark. He felt that he should stick to the hotel grounds, though, and so he stayed within the gardens. If they could be called that. They were dusty and full of… Were those cactuses wearing bobble hats? Crazy!

Rai was headed back to the hotel. She was nearly overwhelmed from all the sights and new foods and things. She stopped at the market and bought cactus fruit and chocolate. The clerk had said the cactus fruit was amazing. She would see. As she came closer to the hotel, she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye. Was that… Sergei? She thought he was only ever in his room, the bar or the gym. She smiled and waved kindly as she made her way over.

He was sat staring at one of the ‘plants’, rubbing his chin in thought when she came bounding over. He nodded to her politely and fished in his jacket pocket, producing a small bundle of white paper, folded neatly into a square. He held it out for her to take.

Rai blinked at the paper he produced and tilted her head.

“What is this?” she asked as she took it in her free hand, bending over to place her bag of goodies on the ground.

She opened it up to see very intricate writing. She read a few lines and realizrd he must have translated the book for her.  
“You.. You did this for me?” she asked as she read the first poem. It was beautiful. She didnt know what to say.

He simply stood and offered a small bow to her. It was nothing majoy. Just the first few poems. He figured she could use them to help translate if he ever allowed her to borrow the book. Not that he would do that any time soon. She would need to prove more trustworthy than that. He watched her as she looked over the paper, an odd sort of pride warming his chest. The book held a lot of meaning for him, so for another to be enjoying it felt different. Enjoyable, almost.

“Thank you.” she smiled at him as she folded it up and tucked it into her bosom of her kimono.

—

Bryan wanted nothing more than to lock himself up in his room, chain smoke and clean his zippos, but room service didnt bring up alcohol and he sure as shit needed that right now. He pulled on his cargo shorts and a tight black wife-beater shirt and headed down to the bar.

Rae had made herself as inconspicuous as she possibly could considering what she was wearing, by standing by the bar but right at the end by the wall. She asked the bartender to rustle up some chicken for her so she could at least make her visit worthwhile.

Paul and Forest had not arrived, but King was sat in a booth listening to Lee chat about god knows what. Every now and then the jaguar-headed man would look around as if he was looking for an escape.

Bryan was in a foul mood and anyone in his path quickly moved out of it as he made his way. When he made it to the bar he sat down in a booth all the way to the back. He didnt want anyone talking to him, noticing him… None of it.  
The waitress saw him, knowing right away who he was, brought jis drink and a menu. He snatched both from her without a word.

Rae had been too busy watching the bartender scoot around to notice Bryan enter the bar. She leaned over the bar counter, resting on her elbows waiting for her food. With luck she would be able to eat and leave without too much hassle.

The waitress came up to the bar visibly shaken.

“Bob that asshole from last night is back.” she said as she plaved a few empty glasses on the counter for him to clean.

Bob quickly shushed her.  
“Quiet bev. They dont call him Fury for nothing!” he said ad he produced another double whiskey.

Rae instantly straightened up and almost slipped backwards. “What did you just say?” She looked to the bartender and waitress with an almost disgusted look on her face.

The waitress looked to the woman and scowled. It was the girl that fought with the man yesterday.

“Sorry. But your friend is kind of a dick.” she scoffed as she took the whiskey glass and took it to Fury’s table.

Rae furrowed her brows, an odd sort of anger welling up inside of her over the woman’s comment. “Hey! Fuck off, he’s just… N… he’s not my friend!” She watched as she moved over to Bryan. Oh for god’s sake. Could she go anywhere without him being around? After what happened that afternoon and now the clothes she was wearing, something about it felt terribly… unsavoury.

Bryan could hear the commotion going on but he really didnt give two fucks about it.

Finally the waitress came back witj his second glass.

“Burger. Onion rings. Make it quick.” he snapped.

The waitress quickly retreated with his order.

“Fine. Boyfriend. Whatever. Hes a jerk.” she snapped at the woman as he handed the empty glass to the bartender and headed to the kitchen to put a rush order on the food.

Rae almost screeched the bar down. “HE IS NOT MY FUCKING BOYFRIEND YOU DUMB BIMBO!”

Bryan growled as he looked over the booth at whomever was screaming and groaned. What the fuck. Couldn’t he go ANYWHERE without having to see her fucking face? He sunk into the booth, hoping she wouldnt notice him.

It was clearly too late to be hiding from him, or vice-versa. Rae simply stayed at the bar and gritted her teeth. Hopefully she could just enjoy her food in peace. She leaned back on the surface and waited. Eventually the plate of chicken arrived and she tucked into it happily.

—

After Rai had stuffed the paper into her cleavage, she smiled as she picked up her bag and reached in to produce a chocolate bar.  
“I got this for you. They dont have much chocolate in japan. And if they do it costs a lot.” she shrughed as she offered the bar.

He watched as she stuffed it in… Oh good heavens. Surely not? He caught himself staring a little longer than what he would deem appropriate and cleared his throat against his fist. Wait… She had bought him something? That was the first time in the history of… Well, a very long time and certainly not in the tournament… No, no one bought him anything. It was a shock to the system and he had no idea how to react. After looking left and right, he took it and managed to breathe out a small and quiet 'thank you’.

Raihiko smiled warmly at him as she moved to go sit on the bench not far away.  
“I got these cactus fruit too. The woman at thr market place said they are sweet. I figure why not?” she produced twos cactus fruit from the bag. “She said not to eat the skin. It has little prickles.” she said as she reached into her bossom and pulled out a butterfly knife and swung it open with expert, fluid movements before offering him one of the fruit.

He sat himself back down and watched as she got to work on the odd looking fruit. Did she keep everything down there? No. He couldn’t think about her… Bosom. No. That would be highly ungentlemanly of him indeed. Instead, he simply watched as the blade sliced into the so-called fruit and he had to hold a finger to his lips so he did not allow any saliva to escape. Seeing the blade moved in such a way set his teeth on edge.

After peeling her fruit, she offered the knife to sergei so he could peel his if he wished as she took a bite into the juicy meat of the fruit, the juices running down her chin. It was delicious! She couldnt believe that something coming from a cactus could be so sweet and juicy!

“Mmm oh you gotta try it!” she said as she wiped her chin on her kimono sleeve.

He watched as the juice ran down her chin. She was wiping it on her kimono? What if it stained!? No, he couldn’t possibly allow that. As soon as she had passed him the fruit and knife, he placed them down and fished into his jacket. He produced his silk handkerchief and reached to dab at her mouth. It was a harmless gesture, but certainly one that could be construed as odd. Then again, if anyone said anything he’d be sure to kick them where the sun didn’t shine.

Rai froze as Sergei dabbed her mouth with the bit of silk. It smelled of him. She looked up at him, a sudden tugging at her heart strings at the gesture. It was strange but oddly…. Sensual. Before she realized what she was doing, she placed her hand on his.

He stopped instantly, a very strange and awkward feeling washing over him as he realised that the gesture was probably odd for her. Maybe in their culture it meant something entirely different? His eyes widened and darted around. He was unsure what to do, so just kept it there. What if she was insulted if he took it away? No, he would wait and see what she did next. That was the safest bet.

From the look on his face, she flushed as she quickly let his hand go and went back to eating her fruit after a quick thanks.  
“You..uh. Should try it. It is really good.” she said before popping the rest in her mouth. Well this was awkward. He was just so full of surprises. She didnt know what to think.

He quickly drew back his hand, then tossed over the handkerchief into her lap, brought in his hand again and started to cut into the piece she had given him. He stuffed it in his mouth and was pleasantly surprised. It was not at all like he expected. He turned his head, swallowed and nodded.

She blinked as the hankerchief was tossed into her lap. She picked it up and offered it back. “This is yours though..” she said as she looked at him. It was silk. Not cheap. Surely he wasnt giving it to her?

He held up a hand and finished the rest of the piece of fruit he had. He had others. She might as well make use of it. “Kimono…” He shook his head. He didn’t want her ruining such an exquisite garment. It couldn’t have been cheap at all.

“Thank you.” she said as she stuffed it into her bosom as she had finished her fruit. She leaned back as she looked up at the sky. Despite all the bright lights, a few stars still poked out.

“I hope the next place we go to is not as hot.” she said as she reached into the other side of her kimono and pulled out a matching fan and snapped it open and began fanning herself.

“Do you know who you are going against next? I… Am not sure. I dont know if we find out when we get there?”

He had to give himself a moment to refocus as the silk handkerchief that he’d been using for the past few months disappeared down her unmentionable canyon. He only just managed to register that she had spoken to him again. WHo was he facing? Oh yes, that was right. He would be facing Jack-8. A new model. He was almost looking forward to it. Each model seemed to be different and he had heard that this one was even more high-tech. He cleared his throat. “J… Jack.”

“Jack? Which one is that one? And how did you find out? I havent been told anything…” she mumbled as she continued to fan herself. This heat was slowly choking her out. How the fuck was she going to compete in this? Hopefully her opponent fared worse in this heat than she did.

He could see she was uncomfortable, so he rose to his feet, offered his hand and clutched her knife carefully in the other. He would have to take her indoors so that she didn’t suffer heat stroke. If she did, she could forget about competing the following day and from what he had heard, she was against that whore Anna. No… He shouldn’t think that way.

Rai watched as he stood and offered his hand. He was so.. Sweet? Was that the word she should use? Hell for all she knew this could be some elaborate plan to fuck her up.

Thought deep down she knew that was not true.

She closed her fan with a snap and took his hand as she stared up at his ice blue eyes. They were so… Mesmerizing. He could lead her whever he wanted at this point.

—

Bryan muttered curses under his breath. His food couldnt arrive fast enough. He had managed to slam a few more drinks before it had arrived and he ordered it to be boxed so he could take it to his room and eat in peace. Fuck this.

Though he couldnt help but glance at Rae once in a while. Her ass was sticking out and… No. Fuck this. He was out.

Rae grumbled as she sucked on a chicken wing. She couldn’t help but feel as if she was being watched.

Suddenly, Paul came trundling in with Forest in toe. Oh, thank fuck. Someone normal! But wait… That awkward moment earlier. “Oh shit.”

Bryan couldnt get out of there fast enough. As soon as the food was boxed and he slammed his last drink, he was outta there.

Paul came walkimg up to the bar, sighting a mighty fine looking specimen with her ass sticking out at the bar.

He slid up to her all smooth like as he ran a hand up his hair.  
“Heyyy there. You come here often?” he asked as forrest trailed on his heels. As soom as he saw who who it was, he nearly fell off the stool.  
“Rae! Damn girl! Im sorry!” he quickly righted himself.

Rae pouted. “What? Are you saying I’m not good enough to hit on, or something?” She had no idea why that stung so bad, but it did. “Look, I’m only wearing this temporarily. The staff got it and I hate it. But, it’s the best outfit in the bunch.”

Forest scooted past her to the stool nearby and tried his best to avert his eyes. Rae could see that her rear was causing a scene, so decided that she would have to plonk it down on a stool for her own sake.

“So… How was your day? I mean… After I s-saw you, uh… Last.” She tried to make eye contact, but just couldn’t.

Paul threw up his hands in defence.  
“No! You are totally boneable! I just dont want the wrath of Fury comin down on my head!” he said as he reached ober to grab a wing off her plate.

She frowned at him again. “What!? He doesn’t own me! The fuck are you talking about? Oh! Oh I see… You thought that because of earlier that… No. Hah. Well, no I can assure you that it NOT the case.” She slammed the bare chicken bone onto her plate and picked up another wing, sucked the meat off in one go and threw the bone down on the plate again.

Paul didnt quite know how to react as he sucked the meat off the bone.

“Well… In that case…” he finally said as he tossed the bare bone on the plate and slid up next to her.  
“How you doin?” he asked with an eyebrow wiggle.

Rae stared at him for a moment in silence as he scooted closer. “Does that ever work?”

Forest was trying his best not to burst out laughing, but was failing badly. He had to hide behind a cocktail menu to calm down.

At the same time Paul had said “yes”, Forest had made sure to yell “no” from behind his menu. Paul reached over and shoved him off his stool as he grabbed the drink menu that was in his hands.

“How about I buy you a drink?” he grinned as he looked through the menu. Not that he didnt know the thing by heart by now.

Rae laughed loudly as Forest struggled on the floor for a moment, before hopping to his feet as if it never happened. She just shrugged at Paul. “Sure. I shouldn’t be drinking since we have the tournament tomorrow, but what the hell. I’m sure I can work it off. You choose.” She adjusted her dress so her cleavage was not as visible. For some reason, she felt suddenly very conscious of it.

Sergei decided that he would buy Rai a drink. A non-alcoholic one, to make sure she was hydrated. The heat was bad enough for him in his uniform. In fact, he would be very glad to go inside and bathe in the air conditioning. Once inside, he held the bar door open to allow her to enter first. the bar was full, but the air conditioning was strong enough so it wasn’t stifling.

Rae laughed loudly as Forest struggled on the floor for a moment, before hopping to his feet as if it never happened. She just shrugged at Paul. “Sure. I shouldn’t be drinking since we have the tournament tomorrow, but what the hell. I’m sure I can work it off. You choose.” She adjusted her dress so her cleavage was not as visible. For some reason, she felt suddenly very conscious of it.

Rai’s chest tightened as she let Sergei lead her by the hand. There was an odd tingling sensation shooting up her arm the whole time. The hell was wrong with her??

She thanked him as she entered the bar and looked around. It was packed. Many people she had never seen before. A few faces she recognized from that morning. She looked back at him as though questioning where he wanted to sit. There weren’t many options. She looked around and finally her eyes landed on a familiar trio. She smiled as she grabbed him by the hand, not quite realizing what she had done, before heading towards the three just as Paul suggested a Black Velvet and Pepsi. The fuck was that?

Paul looked back and cheered at Raihiko as he patted the seat that used to belong to forrest. “Come on, sit down!” he said happily as he hadnt noticed Sergei just yet.

Rai smiled to Rae.  
“I have that same outfit back home!” she said in a cheerful manner as she looked over her choice in wardrobe.

Rae, who had been cursing the outfit the entire time she had been wearing it, suddenly felt guilty and cringed. “It… It uh… It’s not really my size.”

Sergei followed her, allowing her to lead him by the hand and looked between each person present. He nodded to each individually. Rae smirked and nodded to him, before leaning in to Rai’s ear. “What’s the deal here then?”

Forest was pouting at Paul, as he’d offered his seat, but cheered up as soon as a plate of chilli beef appeared on the bar.

Sergei wasted no time in gesturing to the bartender to get everyone exaqctly what they wanted on him. No words, just hand gestures, but the man seemed to completely understand.

Rai blinked as she looked her over. She was right. It was definitely at least two sizes too small. She looked back at Sergei as rae spoke and realized she was still holding his hand. She let him go, hoping he hadnt noticed it as well. Great. More awkwardness.

“There is no deal here. He and i just… Talk. Also, I think that outfit looks nice on you.” she smiled before she looked to Forrest and motioned for him to take his seat.

The bartender brought a round of drinks before looking to Rai who was the only one without a drink order in.

“Uh… Water please. I dont drink before a match.” she shrugged and Paul whipped his head around.

“Babe! No alcohol? What the hell? Yesterday you were just fine with the long island!”

At the mention of the not tea her stomach gurgled. Ugh. No. No more long teas for her.

Rae raised her brows and grinned at her knowingly, before raising her glass to Sergei, who simply bowed in response. The drink Paul had recommended was nice. It had surprised her, in fact. Now she had two sat next to her, as Sergei had shouted one. It would do her just fine. She wasn’t 100% sure what was in it, but she could taste the unmistakeable twang of stout. “Cheers Phoenix.” She raised the glass to him as a thank you for the first. “Which reminds me, I still have your top…”

Forest leaned in between them. “Whaaaat? Why would you have his…” Paul shoved his big hand in his face and pushed him back.

“Yeah. Why do you have his top?” she grinned in a knowing fashion as she was handed her water by the bar tender.

“Nothing happened.” Paul defended. “I just happened to notice how uncomfortable she was in the short skirt the staff had brought her and offered my top till she could get into something mote comfortable.” it was a bold faced lie, but it was no ones fucking busimess how he found her. If she wanted the truth out she would tell it.

Raihiko wasnt sure she believed him. She took a long swallow of her water, having not realized just how thirsty she was. Damn this heat.

Rae was actually impressed with Paul. She leaned closer and gave him a friendly nudge on the arm as a thank you. Who knew she’d find a decent guy at the event. Not in THAT way, more as a friend, or drinking buddy kind of 'decent guy’.

Forest scratched his head. He would have to ask him about it later in private.

Sergei leaned in to Rai and noticed her skin looked tinted red. He had to admit, he was now feeling the effects of the heat. He had always kept his uniform on. It was what he did. To be without it would be disgraceful, but it was taking its toll. He reached a gloved hand up to his forehead. He suddenly felt dizzy…

Raihiko felt his presence a bit closer and looked to see Sergei looking a little…. Off.

“Are… Are you okay?” she asked as she tilted her head a bit. He didnt look too good. Perhaps the heat got to him as well? She offered her water as she fanned herself, suddenly forgetting there were others in the room.

He held a hand up, while the other pressed against his forehead. He needed to get out… It was very rude of him, but he had no choice. He made for the exot and hurried back to his room. He needed the coolness of the air conditioning against his bare skin and he certainly couldn’t take off his uniform in the bar. He raced to the elevators, hammered the button with his hands and, when it took too long, just raced for the stairs.

Rae looked to Rai with a confused sort of grimace, before downing her drink all in one go. “UGH yes. Onto the next!”

Rai blinked a few times as she realized he had just basically ran out on her. Er. Ran out. Just ran out.  
She quickly turned to the others and bowed.

“Gomen i must be going. See you all at yhe tournament tomorrow!” she said happily before she downed her water and set the glass on the table before retareating out of the bar. He looked… Sick almost. Perhaps it was the heat? She grabbed an ice cold water from one of the vending machines on her way to the lift. Perhaps heat exhaustion? She knew she felt the affects of the heat in her kimono and he seemed tor have on far more than she. It was possible. But that would mean that he needed to get hydrated too.

She stopped off at her room, dropping off the goodies and extras she had tucked away in her bosom before she straightened herself up and, after grabbing the water bottle, headed to his room across the hall. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm her nerves as she reached up and knocked lightly.

As soon as Sergei had reached his door, he had fished his key from his pocket with a shaky hand and entered the safety of his room. The air conditioning unit now blasting away, he proceeded to remove every article of clothing until he was down to his underwear. It was bliss. He was stood in the middle of the room, his arms out to his sides and his eyes closed as he tried to cool down. With the soft flesh of his underarms exposed his blood would cool quicker. He tried to focus on cooling thoughts. The knock on the door shook him from his meditation and he looked to either side of him for suitable attire to cover himself. In all honesty, though, the idea of clothing at that moment made him feel worse. He decided to just answer the door, if they had a problem with underwear then tough.

The door creaked open…

Rai heard the clicking of the door opening. She looked back and instantly flushed. Though the door was not quite open all the way, she could still tell he was without apparel. She tried her absolute best to keep her eyes on his face, but they kept wandering of their own accord. He was… Ripped. Absolutely ripped. And scarred. So many scars.

“I uh… I brought you an ice cold water. You didn’t look like you felt good. I thought maybe the heat had gotten to you after all…” she said as she offered the water bottle while forcing her eyes to stay on his.

Sergei looked her over, then to the bottle of water in her hand. Slowly, he moved back and slunk into his room, leaving the door open. He couldn’t cover up, he’d pass out, but he had to be polite. If she was uncomfortable, she would surely say so.

Rai blinked as he backed out of the doorway, but left the door open. Was he…. Inviting her in? In his underwear?! Oh her Sensei would die of a coronary if he saw her now. But… He wasnt here was he?

She swallowed hard as she walked through the door and closed it behind her. It was significantly colder in there. And it was dark. So it was the heat after all?

She couldnt help but look at the scars over his back as he walked away from her. How did he get so many scars? Rae had said he was in the Russian Army… Maybe he had seen a lot of action? Many wars? She would have to ask him about them. She had many of her own scars, but many were from when she had first learned to use her weapons, or from the beatings she would get from the kendo stick for stepping out of line. She had permanent callouses on the back of her legs and lower back from that one.

“Are… You okay? I was worried when you ran out.” she asked as she tried to keep her eyes up, though failing miserably. His back muscles were tight, his legs were thick with muscle… His rear… Ugh. Maybe this was a mistake?

She wasnt sure what to do so she just awkwardly stood near the closed door, looking around. Everything he had was so… Pristine. Like everything had to be in a very specific order.. Far different from her throwing her things around. Hell the only thing she took extra care of were her Tonfa, which sat on the desk in her room in their case.

Sergei reached for a light and squinted as it turned on. He turned as he sat down on the end of his bed, pointed to the air conditioning unit in the corner as if to explain that yes, it was the heat. He didn’t like admitting it, but he was not used to it by any means. At least not the kind of heat Arizona gave off. He gestured to an empty chair by a dresser and then laced his fingers together as he waited.

Rai blinked as she got used to the light. As he gestured to the chair she bowed before she walked over and took a seat, sitting on the edge, he back straight. She set the bottle down on the table before resting her arms in her kimono sleeves, looking everywhere but the nearly naked Sergei.  
“It is certainly much cooler in here. I dont think my cooler is working.” she said as she looked down at the floor. No. Hers didnt cool nearly as well.  
“I am sorry if i disrupted anything.” she said sheepishly.

He let out a small humming sound in dismissal and stood to take the bottle. As he took it, he gestured to her in a mock 'cheers’ and opened it up, before plonking back down on the bed again. He was getting there. He was much cooler than before. After a good, strong pull of the liquid, he closed the bottle back up and cleared his throat. “Allow me.” He was, of course, talking about her air conditioning unit. He stood, made his way to the door and gestured for her to lead the way, bottle still clutched in his hand.

Rai blinked as she heard him speak. It still caught her off guard once in a while.

“Hm? Oh!” she stood, trying her best not to stare as she led the way to her room across the hall. She pulled the key from her kimono and unlocked it and walked in, holding the door open for him to enter. Her room was a mess compared to his. She almost felt embarrassed.

He entered without even looking at the room. His eyes were focussed entirely on the air conditioning unit in the corner of the room. He marched over to it, reached upwards and removed a panel from the underside. After a moment of eyeballing it, he adjusted something with his fingers and the unit started blasting once again. He sealed it back up again and gestured with a hand to the now fully functional air con. She should have the room as cold as his in no time if it was what she wanted…

He slowly walked back to the door and gave a small bow to her, before opening the door to return to his room.

Raihiko raised abrow as she watched him work. Ok so he can fix the air too now? Well then.

As she watched him leave, she felt she needed to say something.  
“Uh… Wait! Thank you. Again.” she said as she crossed her arms in her kimomo. He. Was just so… Nice to her. She didnt think she woupd make friends in this competition and she had already made a few.

The air con had been deliberately set so that it didn’t go too high. An inhibitor, so to speak. It was not hard to fix, so he figured he might as well do it. Where would the fun be if the contestants all came down with heat stroke?

He turned his head a little, gave a nod and continued to his room.

After her door shut, Raihiko sighed as she began to undress. She planned on waking early and getting a bit of a workout in before her match.

—

Down in the bar Rae had finished her second drink and was feeling a little woozy. Forest had offered to buy a round, so she had agreed. She probably shouldn’t have, but she did. Down it went and she nearly did too! “Thanks for the drinks you… Y… You guys I'mma go to… Bed.”

Paul almost protested, but she had a point. The round the next day would need them all sober and alert.

Rae said her goodbyes and wobbled all the way back to her room. As soon as she got to her door, she hesitated and looked at the handle on Bryan’s door. A frown spread across her face as she remembered how he’d treated her, but it was soon replaced by a drunken grin as she plotted against him.

She staggered to the door and leaned her face against it, before knocking. “Heeeeyyyy!”

Meanwhile, Bryan was just about to pass out when there was a knock on his door. Who the fuck…. Whoever it was was about to get a fucking fist to the face. He groaned as he got up, wearing nothing but the skin he was born in, and opened the door quickly.

“The fuck do you want?” he snapped.

As the door opened Rae fell face first into the brick wall that was his chest. Suddenly, she started laughing for no reason, the alcohol in her system making the fact that he was stood naked rather amusing… For some weird reason. She used both hands to try and push herself off, but all she could think about was how amazingly sculpted those mother fucking muscles were. He had no right to be so ripped.

Bryan stood there as the woman faceplanted into his stomach. He blinked in surprise before growling and pushing her away from him. Damn this woman. She was far more troublesome than he first assumed her to be. He hoped she wasnt ome of those broads… You know, the type ya fuck and they follow you around like a damn lost puppy? That would be just his fucking luck.

But the longer they stood there, the more he realized how more offish she was. He wasnt a complete moron lile a lot of the competitors assumed him to be. He was actually quite observant. His years as a cop hadn’t disappeared over night after all.

“The fuck you want?” he growled as he glared at the woman. What the fuck was she wearing??

She slowly looked up and odd sort of expression on her face. “I… I wanna talk.” Her hands reached out to his arms to stabilize herself. “I just…” She let out another laugh and lowered her eyes as she wobbled around. “I feel like shit.”

Bryan looked down at her. Her constant movement was making his head hurt. He reached out and clasped his hands on her shoulders to steady her.  
“You look like fucking shit.” he commented. She was definitely intoxicated. He let out a frustrated sigh as he looked around and finally pulled her inside. She was letting the damn cold out.

“You wanna talk? Talk.” he growled as he moved her over to set her in a chair.

She slumped roughly in the chair, her hands still grasping on his arms as she did so, her fingertips raking down from the momentum. It took a moment for her to actually focus, but she managed it. “You. It’s all your… fault.”

Bryan could care less that he was stark naked as he sat on the edge of his bed across from her, crossing his arms across his muscled chest.

“The fuck you talking about?” how the fuck was it his fault? She started all this shit.

Her hands moved from his arms to the arm rests of the chair as soon as he moved away and she felt as if she’d have to hold on to save herself from falling out the chair. “I just…” Her voice was slurred and her eyes glazed. “I just don’t… Get you. And and and… And it’s driving me … nuts and… I’m just so…” She winced a little as mental images of what they had done flew into her mind. She couldn’t look at him. SHe daren’t. Not with the way she was feeling. She inhaled and exhaled, the breath out sounding shakey.

Oh god. She wasnt gonna cry was she? No. He couldnt take that. If she did he was definitely throwing her out on her ass.

“You think you dont drive me fucking nuts?” he growled as he grit his teeth.

“It’s not intentional! For fuck’s sake, I just… I’m just… Trying to…” She hiccupped a little, paused for a moment seemingly in thought, before finally blurting out. “WE FUCKED!”

In his room, Sergei was feeling more like himself again and he decided to do a small amount of reading. It didn’t hold his attention too long, as the events of the day played through his head as if on repeat. Something about that woman confused him. She seemed meek and mild, yet she was in one of the most brutal fighting tournaments in the world. Also, the fact that she had told him that Rae knew about him had made his gears turn even more. He had decided he should be careful, just in case. He didn’t want to cause an international outrage. Now cooled, he sat on the chair, straightened his back up and did a few breathing exercises, before finally practicing his singing. While he did not talk, singing was a passion of his. It was one of the few times anyone would hear his voice and, he assumed, most people would still be at the bar drinking. It was a perfect opportunity.

Raihiko was in her small cubby of a restroom brushing her teeth. Her hair was down and damp from the luke warm shower she took. It was so much more tolerable in her room now that the cooler worked properly. She had her toothbrush in her mouth scrubbing away when she heard something. She blinked as she pulled the brush from her mouth and spat the excess out before wiping her mouth. She pulled on her nagajuben and closed it with her black obi from her day’s kimono. She walked out into the hall, making sure her key was in her cleavage before looking around. That beautiful sound was coming from Sergei’s room. She silently walked across with bare feet as she leaned closer to his door to hear better. His voice was lovely, though intermingled with a yelling Bryan and Rae. Something about fucking? Her eyes widened as she ran back into her room and slammed the door. She did NOT wanna hear about that shit. She didnt care how beautiful his voice was.

Bryan sat there like a deer in healights for a split second before he forced a look of indifference .

“Yeah? So fucking what? You fucking agreed to it.” he said as he looked up at the ceiling. The thought of his member in her tight hole causing him to react physically so he crossed his legs hoping that would conceal it. Fucking body. Why couldnt it be dead like the rest of him?

She flopped off the seat onto the carpet below and slowly raised her hands to her face, scrubbing at it like she was trying to wake herself up. Slowly, she looked up at him, but her eyes stopped when she reached his crossed legs. “I didn’t ag-agree to it, you.. You..” She shivered. “You threw me down and…”

“Hey lady, listen here. I may be a dick, but i sure as shit aint no fucking rapist. You didnt fucking say no. You didnt say anything about stopping. That’s a fucking yes in my fucking book.” he was pissed now. To insinuate he raped her… She was going too fucking far now.

Sergei continued to sing, but every now and then his voice would waiver as the shouting from the other room distracted him. Did domeone say something about a rapist? He stopped and listened. If it was a problem, he would have to know about it and possibly deal with it himself. Something like that couldn’t be allowed.

Raihiko didnt know what the fuck to think as she sat in her room. She would have to ask Rae about it tomorrow. Right now she had other things to think about. One. Sergei had a beautiful singing voice. Two. Who the fuck was she facing tomorrow. Well now she wasnt tired. So. She did what she did whenever she couldnt sleep. She got dressed into her exercising gear and grabbed her tonfa. She peeked out her door and looked to the lwft and right. She wasnt sure if she was allowed her weapons even outsice the ring, but she was going through withdrawls. They were apart of her. For her to go this long without using them… It was killing her.

When she saw the coast was clear, she strapped her tonfa to her hips before heading down for the gym. She would have plenty of room there and she was sure everyone was either in the bar or in bed at this point.

She quickly made it to the lift and pressed the buttons a few times trying to make sure no one was out and about.

Rae finally managed to look Bryan in the eye. “I… I didn’t say th…” She hiccupped again. “That. I just…” 

OK, that was it. She was defeated. “OK, alright! I admit it, it was fucking amazing and and and as soon as I felt that big, huge…” Her eyes went downwards again to his crossed legs and she swayed around where she knelt, an odd gurgling sound coming from her throat. “I want it.”

For the second time in an hour he looked like a deer in headlights. It had been a long time since a woman said she enjoyed his cock. It was… Odd.

It didnt take him long to recover. He grinned like a maniac as he finally unfolded his legs and leaned forwards a bit. “Do you now?” he chuckled darkly as he took ahold of himself and almost teased her with it as he stroked himself. “Well that’s too fuckin’ bad. I usually don’t soak my dick in the same hole twice.” he growled the cruel words, hoping to cut her down. She made it too fucking easy.

Sergei simply decided to keep listening in for valuable information, but heard the words 'big’ and 'huge’ and inwardly groaned. The conversation had now turned away from the information he was interested in, so he moved over to his bed, climbed under the sheets, turned off the light and closed his eyes.

Rae’s eyes were now fixed on the huge thing he was holding. Every time he moved it, her eyes would follow. She started to feel a little motion sick. “P… Pity.” She managed to force out some words as she tried to contemplate her situation. On the floor of a hotel room, on her knees, in front of a very naked Bryan Fury who was teasing her with his giant meat stick. And she hadn’t even made it past round two of the tournament. What kind of crazy world had she been suddenly thrust into? She licked her lips and shuffled forwards, a hand on each of his knees. He could swat her off for all she cared, she was going for it. “The same hole, you say?”

He watched as she shuffled towards him. He stood his ground, not moving. He was genuinely curious as to what she had in mind. Surely she wasn’t… Was she? It had been a long time since he had his cock sucked. And if she was willing… He would let her. The fuck if he was gonna pass up an opportunity to get his nut off.

Her hands dug into the flesh of his knees and she moved them up to his thighs as she leaned forwards and opened her mouth, allowing her tongue to graze his length. Why she was doing it, she wasn’t quite sure. She just had an overwhelming urge to taste him, to feel him in her again no matter how. He didn’t smell bad at all for a reanimated corpse. As she swirled her tongue around the large tip, her eyes flicked upwards to look at his face. Just how was he taking it?

He took his hand away to give her room, leaned back, grunting a bit as he grasped the sheets behind him. “Fuck…” he grunted out as he threw his head back and bucked his hips up. Fuck that felt good.

As he moved his hips up, it entered her mouth and she almost choked. She was surprised she could even fit it all in, she must have had a bigger mouth than she thought. She gasped against it and pulled her lips backwards, pushed forwards again and repeated it a few times. His reaction was exactly what she wanted. He was able to feel pleasure. Did that mean that he was not 100% dead to everything? That he could decide to just say fuck it and not splatter people up walls? Perhaps this was the answer to her question. She slowly slipped her hands up his thighst to his rear, where she gripped it and tried her damn best to take him in as much as she could.

As she took him in deeper, he nearly lost it. The gagging made it even better. It felt so… Fuck. He couldnt even think! All he could do was feel as his hand reached the back of her head and curled into her light brown hair as he pushed her further down his cock. Oh fuck that was the ticket. He grunted low and long as he bucked his hips.

As his hands curled into her hair and pushed her head downwards, she choked and let out a whining sound. He was too big! Too big! This was just not… She tried to swallow to see if it would help her tongue adjust, but it only made her feel even more suffocated. She tried to pull back, but he had her pretty tightly. Rae dug her fingers into his ass in the hopes it would startle him into letting go.

He was not expecting her nails digging into his ass. He let her go and grabbed ahold of her hands and yanked her up. “Dont fucking do thst again!” he all but roared in a menacing tone as he effortlessly threw her onto the bed. He crawled on top of her, sitting on her chest as he grabbed her tits and shoved his dick in between them. Even through the material her perk mounds felt great against him.

Rae yelped as he threw her to the mattress. She was now used to his yelling and in her drunken state she hardly even registered it. As soon as he climbed on top of her though, she could hardly breathe and she had to wriggle under him as he sandwiched himself between her breasts. “Nnnghhhh… N-N… No! D… Don’t…”

Bryan grinned as he stopped got off her.

“Look at that. The meek little mouse has a voice after all.” he taunted as he cracked his knuckles and neck as he stood there, bouncing from foot to foot as though he were in the ring. “Thought you wanted this?” he teased as he grabbed himself, thrusting his hips forwards.

Rae stayed put and looked down at him wondering why he had stopped. “M-Mouse? What? Why have you… Why have you s-stopped? I don’t… Get back here!”

“Make up your fucking mind you fucking crazy bitch!” he hissed at her before jumping on her. He tore the cloth of her playsuit and underwear her that kept him from his prize. He wanted to taste her. He hadnt ate pussy in a long time and boy did she smell sweet. He hiked her hips up and dove him, shoving his large tongue deep.

“I meant that… I meant for… You to not do it like th…” She was trying to tell him that he could have torn the fabric away from her breasts to use them properly, but was interrupted as he tore away her underwear and the bottom part of her playsuit and crammed his tongue into her as if there was no tomorrow. She had to slap her hands around her mouth, only for her to miss, so she tried again and whined into her palms. She had NEVER imagined he would even consider doing such a thing. Giving pleasure to another? What was that about?

He licked up her slit, suckling on her bud before looking up at her with a look that was purely animalistic. He pulled away, wiping hid mouth on the back of his arm as he let her fall to the bed. Oh yeah. Just as great as he remember. Though dhe was a bit… Sweeter even. He stood upright before pulling her down towards his hips and he wasted no time in burying himself between her slivk folds. Oh how he enjoyed her tightness.

Rae arched her back as he worked his magic with his mouth and kept her hands tightly over her mouth so no one heard her. Despite what he had said earlier, he still ended up dropping her down and shoving himself into her anyway and he had to stop covering her mouth to grab the sheets for dear life. It felt as if he was about to tear her in half. “HNGHH oh shit!” She didn’t care about her outfit being torn to bits, he could destroy that hideous thing all he wanted, but down there? She’d rather stay in one piece, but it didn’t seem like that was going to be the case at all as she felt an intense stinging.

He ripped down her top and grabbed ahold of her perk mound roughly as he pounded into her. He didnt care that he was hurting her. He was all about one thing right now. Fucking getting off. “How about this? Hard enough for ya?” he grinned down at her as he grasped her tit a little tighter, pushing himself a little faster.

She almost wailed as he continued. The pain was intense. It burned so bad. She slowly managed to focus her eyes and she looked up at him, her face contorted in agony which slowly broke into a smile.

Bryan looked down at her, relishing in her agonizing pains. He smirked as he jack hammered her a little harder. Then she did something he had not expected. The fucking bitch smiled! The fuck was wrong with this broad? She was almost as psychotic as he was. Fuck was he getting into?

Rae was so wasted that her eyelids started to droop and she raised her hands upwards to try and touch him. It hurt. It hurt so bad. But she was oddly enjoying it. It made her feel alive, it made her feel something she couldn’t describe. Had she been sober, she probably would have pondered on whether it was another reason for joining up in the tournament, but for now she would just gurgle and try not to pass out as Bryan rocked her world yet again. That asshole had her craving it.

It didnt take him long to finish. He wasnt exactly in it for her pleasure. He emptied into her, letting out a loud growl as he came. Hard. It was even better than the first! After he finished he all but fell on top of her. His muscles were spazzing and he just wanted to ride it out. Felt like the last time he got high.

As he flopped onto her she let out an 'oof’ sound and raised her arms a little, allowing her palms to gradually rest on the back of his shoulders. She was frustrated that he hadn’t allowed her to finish. She needed it. But the sensation of him finishing violently inside of her was satisfying in its own way and it made her grin from ear to ear as the warmth filled her up inside. Her eyes grew heavy. The alcohol in her system was making her feel sleepy and she struggled to keep her eyes open. “Mmnhh…” Out like a light.

He rolled over on his back, too tired to give a shit that she was still there. Fuck. Maybe havingnthe irritable bitch around wouldnt be so bad after all. Not that he would ever say that out loud. He let out a groan as he flipped over and was snoring away within minutes, his mind tired from sex and booze.


	8. Chapter 8

Raihiko had made it to her destination with zero problems. She let out a sigh as she silently vlosed the door abd turned on the lights. She walked over to the open area as she stretched. She wasted no time in pulling her tonfa out and began to twirl them expertly in simple little warm ups, getting a good feel for her beloved weapons. It felt so good to have them in her hands again. As she got further into it she blocked out everything else as she got further and further into her trance. It was wonderful. Just what she needed.

From inside the bar, Anna slowly slipped out and noticed the gym lights were on. She had no idea who would be training at such an hour, but she could only assume it was a hot, well-built man. She slid down the hallway and cracked open the door, only to be hit with major disappointment as her eyes fixed on the annoying woman she had encountered before. The one who took Chaolan’s attention from HER. But, oho! What was this? Weapons? She grinned and made her way in, leaned against the wall and adjusted her cleavage accordingly. “Aha… So you are a tonfa user, hm? I simply cannot abide by them. I’m more fond of guns myself.”

Being in her own world, Raihiko hadnt noticed the new body until she spoke. Rai twirled around, her Tonfa out in the offensive position until she realized who it was. Great. Well. Maybe if she faked nothing was wrong. Because nothing was wrong. She wasnt doing a single thing wrong. Wait. She was talking. Something about guns.

“My Sensei says guns are for cowards who can’t defend themselves properly.” she said as she went back to her complex twirls and spun her tonfa around effortlessly before flipping back.

Anna let out a long, drawn out chuckle. “Sounds like your sensei is just bitter he’s a relic living in a modern world. I can assure you that I have defended myself countless times with a gun and I fully intend on doing so as many times as it takes.” She pushed her hand into her cleavage. “But, I don’t take them for granted. I do have other means.” She produced small throwing knives and threw them at a nearby dummy. “We all have to look out for ourselves any way we can.”

Raihiko stopped and looked at her as she threw her knife. That was enough for today. She didny feel right about this woman. She made fun of her Sensei and he wasnt here to defend himself. That was very wrong indeed. She quickly stowed her tonfa before bowing mockingly at the woman.

“Gomen. I must retire. Must be on my toes for the tournament.” she said as she stood and headed for the door. She did not like this woman. At all.

Anna smirked at the woman and rested a hand on her hip. “Oh? So soon? What a pity… Here I was hoping to see these so-called skills of yours that you seem to place so highly.” She brushed a hand through her hair and stood to face Raihiko. “See you tomorrow then, sugar… In the arena.”

Her words surprised Rai, but she wouldnt let on. She continued her stride out the door and to the lift. Once on she finally let her facade down. The fucking nerve of that witch!

But her words echoed in her ears. See her in the arena? Did that mean she was against the woman? How did these people find out who they were against?! She made a note to ask Sergei next she saw him. She made sure to note the fact that the woman had daggers in her clevage. Maybe she had others hidden? She would have to be careful. She had to really focus. She would not let the bimbo win. Screw that.

Anna grinned to herself smugly as she left and soon she also exited the room after taking back her blades that were still embedded in the training dummy. Once back in the bar, she was approached by Chaolan. “Where did you run off to?”

“Oh, no where sugar. I was just… Getting some air.”

Back in his room, Sergei rolled over in his sleep and snorted himself awake. The dream was most odd. He sat up and scratched his head confused. He was very troubled by it, in fact, so much so that he was out of bed pacing around his room like a mad man. He had no choice in the matter. He would have to sort things out. He threw on his trousers and shirt, loosely buttoned it up and made for Rai’s room as fast as he could. He knocked on the door, eyes firmly on the ground.

Raihiko was in the middle of one hell of a dream. Very… Very inappropriate.

She groaned as she ewas aroused from her lovely dream. Was someome knocking on her door? Fuck. Who the hell could it be?  
She rolled out of bed, straightening her kasaiben, tying it tighter as she trudged to the door, grabbign a tonfa on her way. Who knew who it was. She opened the door slightly, looking out. Her eyes widened as she saw who was at her door. She opened it quickly for him and stood back to allow him to enter. She walked ober and set her tonfa back with its twin.  
“Is everythig ok?” she asked as she sat on the end of her bed.

He looked around for a moment, clearly troubled, before entering. As soon as he was inside he swooped towards her, grabbed hold of one of her hands and fell to one knee, his head held low. He breathed deeply a few times before he finally managed to force out words. “Pozhaluysta, prosti menya! I…” He scrunched his eyes shut. “I am afraid I have done something terrible!”

Raihiko didnt know what to think as he grabbed her hand.  
“W-what could be so terrible?” she wasnt gonna lie. He was freaking her out. What did he do? Did he set her up? Was he there to assassinate her and her kind gestures got through to him? She had no idea what he had said before, probably russian. But she was thoroughly freaked at this moment.

He apologised several times before he finally looked up into her face, an almost desperate look on his face. “I…” He took a second to gauge her reaction. “I… Had… very ungentlemanly dream about you. I am sorry!” He hung his head again. “Please forgive.”

Raihiko looked at him, her face flushing as she realized what he was talking about. He…. Had a vulgar dream about her? That was what was so wrong? She couldnt help herself. She laughed. She shouldnt have. But she did. She reached down to take his chin in her hand and brought his face up so their eyes met. Electricity shot down her arm as she did so.  
“Gomen'nassai! I dont mean to laugh but that is what this is about? I thougjt it was more serious!” she was relieved. She very much figured that something terrible was about to happen. But wait… Why wwould he be having such dreams about her?

As she brought his chin up, he stared into her face for a moment, but as soon as she’d finished talking he hung his head in shame again, stray strands of hair trailing down his cheeks. It was inappropriate of him to have such dreams. It was something he knew he wouldn’t be able to kep inside and he certainly would not have been able to face her the following day if he’d have kept it to himself. He responded in her own language, not that he knew much of it, but he felt it more respectful. “Hai…”

Raihiko didnt want him to feel bad… But shr was curious. She moved to kneel in front of him, forcing him to look at her once more.

“Sergei… Is that how you feel about me?” she asked just above a whisper as she rubbed the scar on his chin with her thumb. It was a bold move, but she had to know. And oh… How she wished she could trace every scar he had… The ruimed flesh was absolutely beautiful in her eyes.

She wasnt entirely sure how to react to that. At least he didnt say no, right? What was she thinking? She just met the guy! And rae had saidbhe was not exactly a kitten to play with… But to see him so… Vulnerable in front of her as he was… He wasn’t dressed up entirely, if anything he looked as thougj he just threw the first thing on he saw, and half assed at that too. “Well. While we are apologizing i must also. I too had a rather… Unprofessional dream about you as well, before you woke me up.” she finally managed to force out. She couldnt believe she was telling him about her dream… But he looked so distraught! Maybe if he knew he wasnt the only one… 

“Gomen'nassai. It seems we are both terrible.” she tried to joke as she forced a smile.

Sergei slowly rose to his feet and looked down at her as she spoke. She had also dreamed about the same thing? There was an old saying about having the same dream as another… As she apologised, he bowed again, his eyes lowered to the floor, straightened up again and stared at her. He had seen her as a fellow competitor before, but it was as if the dream had flipped a switch in his head. He felt intensely awkward.

As he stood, then bowed, she felt maybe she had offended him. He looked completely different now, nearly unreadable as he looked up at him.

“I… Am sorry. I dony know why i said that. I… Just forget it.” she said as she lowered her head in shame. For men to have dreams like that was normal. For women, apparently it was odd. Perhaps he was offended after all.

He could see the troubled look wash over her face. That was not at all acceptable. He swooped forwards, placed two fingers under her chin and raised her head much like she had done, only this time he arched his back so that his face was close to hers. Once he was satisfied with the proximity, he placed a very light kiss on her lips, straightened back up, clicked his heels together and made for the door.

She sat still, the gesture not quite registering in her mind just yet. His lips were so soft against hers. Before he could open the door she quickly stood.  
“W-wait! You’re… Just gonna kiss me like that and leave?” she wasnt really upset per se.. Just confused. How could she be this attacted to a man she had just met? It was mind boggling. She stood her ground as she watched him.

He stopped for a moment, considering his words (Or lack thereof) carefully, before turning back to face her. He lowered his head and took a breath. “Forgive… I…” Sergei raised his head so their eyes met. “It is late. So I thought you… Need sleep. Tournament tomorrow.”

She was nervous as she walked up to him. Yes. He was right. She would need her sleep and save her energy for the fight the following day. But she was no longer tired. Her adrenaline was coursing through her veins, her body was tingling from the electricity that followed.

Rai moved closer to him, as she grabbed his collar to attempt to bring him closer to her level. She let out a shakey breath before she finally leaned up and her eyes slowly closed as she pressed her lips against his.

He stood there motionless for a few moments, before he finally realised that he was being very rude by not responding. He slowly arched his back so that she would not have to strain so hard to reach and just allowed her to continue to kiss him. He pushed back, ever so lightly, so that she knew he wasn’t rejecting it.

As she realized he wasnt kissing back as much as she’d hoped, he was pulling away, she felt silly. Her face heated up as she looked at him sheepishly.  
“I..am sorry. I just…” she didnt know how to finish that sentence. She felt so awkward. She had never had anything more than a few flings when ahe stayed at the university so she was really no good at… This.

“I… Will see you tomorrow?” she asked as she backed away a bit. She didnt know what else to do.

He blinked at her in confusion, his back still arched forwards. Had he not returned it correctly? Had he offended her somehow? Was it his breath? Oh no, it must have been that onion sandwich he had at dinner! He straightened up, cleared his throat and immedietly placed a hand over his mouth just in case.

“Mm.”

Maybe she was just that bad of a kisser? She never felt so awkward. Her anxiety was getting the best of her. She wasn’t sure what to do. So she changed the subject. “I am against Anna tomorrow. That woman who was mean facing me this morning. H-how does everyone find out who they are against? I never found out…”

Sergei, hand still covering his mouth, looked away for a moment, before looking back at her. He didn’t like the awkward tension. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife. He made sure his hand was firmly over his mouth before finally speaking.

“Mmmphhhfff phhmmrff.”

She blinked as she tilted her head to the side.  
“I… Am sorry? I did not quite understand..” she said as she folded her arms inside her white Nagajuben as she watched him. He was acting strange. Perhaps he was disgusted with her? Maybe she should have just let him leave. So infuriating!

He slowly moved his hand from his mouth and averted his eyes. “Apologies. I thought… Breath was bad… You find…” He cleared his throat. “Matches in conference room.”

She blinked. “What? No! No that was… I thought maybe you… I offended you is all… And… Wait… There is a conference room?” she tilted her head to the side. Of course. That explained a lot. “I actually… Enjoyed the kiss.” she could have slapped herself. She was a fighter not some lovesick fucking teen! Why the hell did he have such an affect on her?

He slowly peeled his hand away and gave her a polite bow. He had not spoken so much in a long time and he was feeling somewhat parched, his throat felt so dry. At least, that’s what he assumed the cause was. “As did I… If… Perhaps… Again sometime?” He wouldn’t mind trying again. It felt strangely pleasant. He had done it in a kind gesture so she didn’t feel bad, but he had to admit, it made him feel rather nice. That was not something that happened too often outside of the ring.

He wanted to do it again? He … Wasnt repulsed by her after all? The new information made her stomach flip and her skin began to tingle.  
“I… Actually would like that… Soon.” she smiled as her face warmed. Why did he have such an affect on her? What would happen if they were pitted against one another at a later date? What if… No. She had to think in the now. She would worry herself into a panic attack if she thought about it too long.

He stood as straight as he could and nodded to her. That would be most enjoyable indeed. Perhaps he should… No. That would be too bold. Too ungentlemanly. He would wait for her to give him permission, or do it herself. It was bad of him to kiss her without asking in the first place without piling on the sins even more. “Da. Soon.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Bryan awoke with a strange warmed heat on his chest. He blinked, rubbing his eyes before looking down to see a distinctly feminine mass on his chest. His eyes narrowed as he growled, images of the night previous flying through his head. He forgot to send her packing. Fucking great. He easily shoved her off the bed before he sat up and stretched, cracking his neck in the process. "Wake the fuck up."

Unbeknownst to Rae, she had snuggled up to him during the night for warmth and had no idea what was about to happen. All of a sudden, she was rudely awakened by a giant shove, followed by her colliding with the floor shoulder first with a tremendous 'thud'. "Ow! Hey what the fuck!?" She shot up and froze on the spot. She was in Bryan's room. "Uh..." She awkwardly looked around, trying to remember just what on earth happened the previous night. She recalled Paul and Forest buying her drinks, wobbling back to her room, but... "Cover your eyes at least!" She slapped her hands over herself in an attempt to cover up.

"The fuck you talking about? You were fine with me rippin clothes off you last night." he growled as he stood in all his naked glory and headed to the small bathroom. The hell was her deal? Women were fucking complicated.

"Oh jeeze..." Come to think of it, she felt mighty sore down below... She scrubbed at her face with her palms. "I am..." She wished she could remember. "I am just..." She wished she could remember him tearing off her clothes. "I am so sorry." She wished she remembered what had obviously happened.

"The fuck you sorry for?" he snapped as he flushed the toilet and washed his hands. "We fucked. End of story. Now get out. Got shit i gotta do before my match." he snapped as he walked out of the restroom and walked over and grabbed a smoke and lit up, taking a long draw off it.

Her mouth stretched into a grimace as he wandered back out in his birthday suit. She could see flecks of dried blood on him. Oh dear, well now it made sense. " Yeah, uh... No I meant if I was pushy or fucked up or... Whatever, forget it." She picked up the key which had falled out of her clothes from off the floor, made her way to the door and made sure no one was around before dashing into her room to go have a long shower. Jeeze it was going to sting...

Bryan was quick to dress. Cargo shorts. Tight white beater. He unceremoniously shoved all his stuff into the army duffle he had aquired some years ago and headed out. He would head to the arena early to get a feel for what he was in for.

Rae jumped in the shower as soon as her door had closed. The hot water felt great, but as soon as it reached a certain area it felt like fire. She winced as her eyes crossed and let out loud yelp. "MOTHERFUCKER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Bryan had heard her as he passed by her room. He grinned a maniacle grin as he chuckled to himself. Hopefully thw bitch would get eliminated today and he would be free once more.

\---

Raihiko awoke the next morning feeling absolutely amazing. The night before was very... Informative to be sure. She began her morning routines with a smile nearly permanently plastered on her face. She did her meditating, her morning stretching, before getting dressed into her workout outfit and headed down to the gym. She had an extra skip in her step as she made her way down. She was excited for the day. The only thing that would make this day more perfect would be if she won her heat. Eventually, she made it to the gym area and was sparring with a dummy deciding to eat after she did her workouts. She was so nervous. She couldn't get her mind off of going against that Anna. She was a dirty one, she could tell. But on the other hand, Sergei was constamtly in the back of her mind. Hopefully his presence would not distract her too much.

Sergei, however, had awoke bright and early, put on his uniform and hoped that he would not pass out from the heat. He had cemented it in his mind that he would make sure there was a lot of cool water nearby for when he was fighting, that way he could cool down and hydrate whenever he needed. He would have to discuss it with staff. He had gone down to the restaurant-slash-bar to have his breakfast. Something simple, but good for his energy levels.

Paul came in with a wicked hangover and saw Sergei at the table. He waved and slid into the booth and slumped forwards. "Ohhh maaan. My head feels like a fuckin' cabbage." Sergei looked at him as he chewed his food and wondered why he had decided to join him at his table. It wasn't as if he was considered social. Perhaps it was because he bought him drinks the night before.

"Yo, you alright? You jess kinda disappeared last night."

Sergei nodded to the tall-haired man and plopped a piece of cured meat in his mouth.

"Ah, good." There followed an uncomfortable silence, but it sadly didn't last long as Paul errupted in a tirade about life, the universe and everything. The man seriously didn't seem to have an off button at all. In fact, he continued his one-sided conversation for a good long while, so much so in fact that so much time had passed that Raihiko had finished her workouts for the morning.

She was feeling a little more confident. After quickly showering, she threw on her competitive outfit before putting on a Kimono. She pulled her hair up in a tight bun, placing a small dagger disguised as a hair fan in her hair. She hoped she wouldnt have to use it, but after witnessing the shit from that Anna the night before... She couldnt be too sure. After she was happy with her appearance, she packed up her belongings and tonfa in her bag. They would be leaving after the match. The losers were to go home, the winners to the next location. Best to have her stuff ready. After she was satisfied she had everything packed and ready, she made her way down to the restaurant. She worked up one hell of an appetite. But she knew better than to gorge herself before a match.

Paul was still nattering to Sergei in the restaurant who was wondering how a man with such a hangover could keep it up for so long without puking. Sergei saw the door open and a familiar face entered. He wasn't sure if he should wave her over... No. That would be undignified. He simply waited for her to notice him and if she wanted to sit with him she could. He didn't want her doing it because she felt she had to.

Raihiko smiled as soon as she saw Sergei. As soon as she made eye contact with Paul his eyes lit up at the familiar face. "Yo! Raheeko! Over here!" he yelled as he pat the seat besides him. She raised a brow. He didnt seem too bad off for how much he was drinking the night before. Rai walked over and moved to sit besides Sergei, Paul was obviously disappointed.

Sergei was inwardly pleased when she sat besides him and flagged over the waitress to take a breakfast order. Paul sulked for a moment before looking down at Sergei's plate. His stomach rumbled loudly.

As the waiter came over Rai smiled up at him. "Kon'nichiwa! I will take toast and... Bacon?" she hoped that was the right word for the fried pig fat. It would be perfect for the calories she would need for the day. She looked over at Paul as a loud gurgling sound was heard. The waiter looked to him, an eye raised as he waited for his order. Sergei gestured to his coffee cup and the waiter scribbled on his pad quickly before turning back to Paul.

"Yeah, man. I need food. I had a protein bar before I came down, but now seein' ol' Draggy's plate gave me the munchies. I'll take eggs and bacy!"

It didnt take long for the waiter to come back with an ice water for Rai. She smiled in thanks before she turned to Paul. "Who are you facing then?"

The food was suddenly brought out in double time. They must have made up a bunch of the different items ahead of time in anticipation for the rush. Rai reached down and grabbed a piece of bacon, nibbling on the end of it as she awaited his answer.

Paul grinned. "Me? Oh I'm up against Asuka. She's a fine piece of a-" He stopped as Sergei was giving him severe judgy-face. "I mean, she's a fine fighter! Yeah. I bet I'll get a decent match out of her."

Sergei chewed the remnants of his food and held out his cup in silence as the waiter brought over the pot.

"Say, you guys happened t'see Rae around? She kinda up and left last night when we were juus' gettin' started with the fun!"

The person in question, Rae, was finishing cleaning herself up. She fished around in the bag of clothes that the staff had brought for her. It was just no use. There were loads of outfits, but none of them she would even dare to wear. Eventually, she found a basic outfit which they probably intended for her to wear in private. After all, it would not really draw any press attention. It was just a pair of black combats and a black vest top with a silver belt. She guessed it would have to do. SHe didn't fancy showing off her body to the world in some of the things in that bag. Once she was dressed and packed up, she tied her hair up in her usual ponytail, hoisted the bag over her shoulder and made her way out of her room and down to the eating area.

Raihiko cringed. She was about to answer, telling about the horrendous things she heard from the the hall, when the woman herself came waltzing up. "There she is." she said with a smile as she watched the woman's face as she sat. "What's wrong with you? You act like you were up having sex all night." she slyly teased before throwing the last bit of bacon in her mouth. Of course she was going to tease her. She wasnt getting out of this one.

Paul let out a loud laugh. "Yeah! With who? Old B-ran!? Bahahaha!" he teased as he slapped her on the back. Rae's face was a picture and she almost choked on her own spit as Paul whacked her on the back. How did Rai even... Did she know?

Sergei looked to Rai with a look of surprise. He had not expected her to say something of that nature at all.

"Um... No, I er..." Rae stammered. "I'm sore from, er... From... Priiiivate traaaiiining sessions. Mmm!" Paul looked at her with a brow raised?

"Is that where you went to? I thought you said you were gonna go to bed!"

Rae leaped. "I did, but..."

The waiter interrupted with more plates of food. He felt it best to keep the bacon and eggs coming, as Paul didn't look as if one plate would satisfy him. After plopping it down on the table, the waiter looked to Rae to ask what she would like. "Me? Anything. I'm famished. Something good and meaty."

Sergei choked on his coffee.

Rai had honestly forgotten Sergei was sitting besides her until she heard him nearly choke on his coffee. Her face heated up as she realized what she had said in front of him. She went back to sheepishly eating her toast as the waiter took off with Rae's order. She cleared her throat before looking to Rae, eager to change the subject. That had most certainly backfired on her.

"Who are you against this mornig?" she asked before shoving the last little bit of toast in her mouth.

As Sergei choked over what she had just said Rae waved her hands around. "Oh gods, no! I was talking about food!" Her face flushed a very vivid red colour. Was it hot in there again? It was hot. "Anyway, I think I'm up against..."

Sergei interrupted, actually speaking. "Xiaoyu."

Paul scratched his chin and started eating his breakfast. "Y'better be careful with her. She looks small and weak, but she's not."

"It's fine." Rae squinted a little. "I'll just make sure I don't leave myself open."

Sergei gestured for another refill to his coffee and just sat listening to the banter. He didn't need to say anything else for the time being. He would let those who enjoyed talking talk.

"So, what's the deal with you two palling around?" Paul pointed between Rai and Sergei with a curious sort of smirk.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Rae folded her arms and chuckled.

"Ooohhh." Paul raised his fist and Rae raised hers in a friendly fistbump.

Rai's face heated up as she finished off her breakfast and took a drink of her ice water before standing. She bowed lowly. "Gomen'nassai i must be heading out now." she said as she straightened and headed for the door. She didnt know what else to do. She panicked. And she needed to see the arena before hand anyways... At least, that was her excuse. She headed out to the lobby and sighed. She felt bad leaving Sergei, but she didnt know how to answer the question. What were they doing?

It surprised Sergei that she had retreated so fast after being questioned. What were they doing? Well, to him they were just having breakfast. Was that such a bad thing. Besides, Paul had already been there when she joined them, if anything surely the question should have been more towards what he was doing wanting to hang around with him. He sipped his coffee, his eyes staring at the now closed restaurant door that Rai had exited. Maybe it was pre-heat nerves?

Paul scratched his head again and looked to Rae who was just as confused as he was. They both shrugged in unison, Rae taking that opportunity to steal some of Paul's food. "HEYYY! HEY HEY! That's mine!"


	10. Chapter 10

The arena was in the middle of nowhere. They had a tent set up to shade an area for contestants while they were waiting for their heat and oh was it hellish. The thermometer read 112 degrees under the tent alone.

Raihiko pulled off her kimono, folding it up and setting it on the makeshift bench. Shedding the thick silk was like walking into heaven. Much cooler. She left her ornate metal fan in her hair. She knew she would need it if that Anna decided to play dirty. Two could play that game.

Over across the way, the heat didnt seem to bother Bryan as he set to work beating the shit out of a practice dummy. He had a good sweat going but he didnt even care. He was pumping himself up for this match.

Sergei was sweating already. This was not good. He had stumbled into the tent and headed straight for the table of water, basically ignoring everything else along his way. He needed hydration and fast! At this rate he would have no choice but to... He shuddered at the though of fighting without his uniform intact. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Rae wandered into the tent in her black vest and black cargo trousers and regretted the colour choice. While she had skin showing, the trousers were high grade material, which meant they were thick. What were the staff even thinking!? Surely they knew and just wanted to see her suffer.

The announcer started to speak just as Paul wandered in, followed by the rest of the contenders. Anna instantly grinned at Rai and hung off of Lee as if she was hot shit. Nina, however, wandered closer to Raihiko and pretended she was adjusting her attire, but she was actually whispering advice. "She tries to go in low, side step if you can and keep your defense as low as you can. Also, protect your face, she'll try and go for that." She wasn't entirely sure why she was giving her advice. She could only assume she just wanted to see her sister get her ass beaten in spectacular fashion, as always. She was, if not, consistent in that respect.

Rai was stretching out when she saw Anna grinning over to her. As she moved, she felt the presenceof Nina before she heard her speak. She turned lightly, a surprised look on her face.  
"Thank you... But why are you telling me this? Not that I do not appreciate it." She kicked her foot back and held it to her rear as she balanced on her left foot, stretching her thigh muscles.

Nina shushed her and kept her head down. "Shh, don't thank me. If she knows I helped you, there could be trouble. Just... Think of this as the same as if an official gave you her fighting stats. Nothing more." She stood upright and moved over to a training dummy to start practicing for her turn.

Anna saw Nina near her and became suspicious, but thought no more of it as Lee spoke to her.

As she finished her stretching, she thought about what the woman had said and had already began to form a plan in her head. She attacks low and goes for the face. Well. That was quite useful indeed.

Meanwhile, the announcer called on the first contenders. Bryan versus Leo. The young lad had no chance.

Bryan had barely noticed anything else going on around him as he headed out to the mesa where they would be fighting. He grinned menicingly as he cracked his neck and knuckles. This was gonna be a piece of cake, that shrimp was going down and he was going to enjoy every damn second of it.

Rae had been stretching when she heard the announcer and watched as Bryan made his way out to the arena. She hadn't even noticed him in there. She scooted closer to the entrance to watch, pretending to be focused on her warm ups. She didn't want to miss the carnage, after all.

Sergei was sat fanning himself with a hand while reading his poetry book, waiting for his turn. The less he moved, the less hot he would be. At least, that was his reasoning for taking it easy. Rai, now finished, noticed Sergei off in a corner fanning himself and reading his book. She smiled as she made her way towards him.

"How are you doing in this heat? Wouldn't you be much more comfortable without... All.... That?" She gingerly motioned to his uniform.

He slowly glanced from his book to Rai who had approached him. Ah yes... It really would be. Hearing her say it made him even more tempted. "Mph." A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, down his cheek and dropped onto the page of his book. He instantly scowled at it. How dare it!

"Today is the only day I regret my choice in color." She smiled at him as she reached over to the cooler on the table and grabbed a bottle of cold water. "Looking at you is making me ever hotter." She twisted the cap off and took a quick drink. He was cute when he scowled. Wait. Cute? The fuck was wrong with her?

Did he just hear her right? Did she just say he made her hot? He looked at her in shock, but was distracted by the sounds coming from the arena outside.

Bryan was having the time of his life beating the shit out of the little snot. The kid didn't even last five minutes before he was out for the count. The officials had to drag him off as Bryan was announced as the winner. He laughed loudly, rather proud of himelf on another job well done as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He looked back, noticing Rae watching from inside the tent and gave her an evil sort of smirk as he headed back.

Rae had somewhat enjoyed watching Bryan beat what appeared to be merely a child into a bloody pulp. Who let him in, seriously? Stupid kid. But when he started coming towards the tent with an odd sort of look on his face, she flinched a little, wondering what on earth was going on in that brain of his... Was it a brain still? Processor maybe?

When he made it to the tent Bryan brushed past Rae, eager to get a cold drink. He needed to cool off before he could overheat. Was that possible? He really did not want to find out. But when the announcers called Rae's name, Bryan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the woman. He wanted to see how she fought. After all, there was a reason she was here. Right?

Raihiko heard Rae's name and looked back. "I am going to go watch." She excitedly turned to leave, but hesitated before turning back to Sergei with a nervous smile. "Did you want to come?" She wasn't sure why she was asking. To be polite? That was probably it.

He stayed put, but his eyes followed Rai as she went to watch her... Friend, was she? He wasn't too sure. That was how she saw it anyway. He was not really the type to jump into using such terms.

Rae did one last bout of stretching, before trying to get her head in the zone. She hunched her shoulders and brought her fists up for a quick one-two punch then dashed out. 

Xiaoyu was out there already smiling away and waving to people on the sidelines who were watching. Rae strode over and took her spot. She didn't really have a head for politeness when she was fighting, but Xiao tried anyway. With a chipper 'LETS DO OUR BEST' (Nauseating) she took her spot opposite Rae.

The announcer signalled the start and Rae got into her stance, her fists balled up and locked into place level with her shoulders and her legs apart, hips at an angle.

"Fight!"

Xiao instantly got into a low stance, her arms spread backwards behind her. Rae had seen her use it plenty of times before and she knew what she was planning. She side stepped around her in a circle, hoping to make it difficult for her to connect. unfortunately, she times it wrong and Xiao brought her fist upwards and connected with Rae's mouth.

Rae stumbled a little, clutching her face, as blood dripped down her chin. Now that was a piss take. She was angry. After spitting the blood from inside her mouth, she balled her fists up again and went in on the attack. One, two, elbow, knee, gut punch. How dare she make her bleed her own blood!

As she was hit, Rai jumped and cringed. She almost felt that one. It was amazing watching her fight. She was... Ruthless. Reminded her of....

Bryan watched on from his spot by the tent flap, grinning as the bane of his existance got punched in the face. The sight of her blood running down her chin stirred a familiar feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. He watched on as she blitzed the shit out of- wait. That style... She... No.. No fucking way. They had the same fighting style. Hers was different in a way, but basically the same. Oh man. He made a mental note to drag her off to a secluded area if she won her round.

Xiaoyu winced as she doubled over in pain, as the gut punch connected, but she stepped back and launched another attack, spinning her legs in the air. Her feet collided with Rae's face splitting her eyebrow, sending even more blood streaking down her face.

Sergei heard commotion and decided he might as well join in watching. It couldn't hurt to see what a possible future opponent was like.

Paul also joined in watching, but had no idea who to cheer for. He had competed loads of times with Xiao, so he wanted to cheer for her, but he also wanted to cheer for his new friend.

Rae wiped her face in a gloved hand and scowled at Xiao, a low rumble echoing in her throat as she lunged for her, taking hold of her shoulders and kneeing her in the gut over and over. Xiao managed to struggle free, only for Rae to swing a punch to the side of her head which flinged her one way, then another which sent her the opposite direction. When she was finally dazed, Rae took hold of her by the clothes, swept her leg behind hers and took them out from under her. She collided with the ground with a thud and Rae wasted no time in jumping on her.

Raihiko watched, absolutely amazed. She was absolutely BRUTAL. She actually really hoped that she would not have to go against her new friend. If they kept on, obviously she would have to eventually, but for now she was okay with just wathcing her friend kick the snot out of her opponent. All of the fighters she had witnessed were brutal, of course, in their own ways, but she assumed that Rae seemed to be so because of the merger of both the fighting techniques she used. It worked in such a way that made her appear intimidating to watch.

Bryan could feel his shorts tightening as he watched her fight. She was fucking ruthless and it turned him on. To think this was the same girl who came to him practically begging to be fucked... No. He was wrong about her. He suddenly had a new found.... Respect? Almost. Not exactly... He couldnt really think at that moment. His brain was somewhat devoid of blood.

Paul glanced over to Bryan and saw an odd sort of look on his face. "Hey man, you OK there?"

Bryan turned and growled at Paul. "The fuck is it your business?" He glared at the man, before turning back to watch again. As she snapped the girl's bone, he felt he was gonna lose it. She was so.... Violent. He fucking loved it.

Paul raised both hands. "Jess makin' sure you're OK. You look like you're about to blow a gasket or somethin'."

Meanwhile, Rae had dived onto Xiao and had taken hold of her arm. In one swift movement, she had curled her thighs around her forearm and snapped the bone. Xiaoyu yelled out in agony and Rae stood up, her arms still raised in the defensive position.

Xiao staggered to her feet, her left arm now done for, but she had other limbs. She used all her strength to peform a mid-air kick, which Rae blocked with her forearms. It hurt, no question and would bruise, but she already had a split eyebrow, lip and an unsightly bite mark on her neck. It didn't make any difference if she got a bruised arm.

Sergei moved behind Rai and placed a hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there as he watched her friend all but take the girl to pieces.

Raihiko nearly jumped as she turned to see Sergei. She had not expected to feel any sort of contact and it had startled her. She instantly relaxed and gave him a smile when she realised it was only him. "She's so brutal!" Sergei simply shrugged. It was a fighting tournament. She had to be.

Xiao was putting up an admirible battle herself. He watched as she tried to grapple Rae, but Rae headbutted her and blood squirted right from her nose all down her traditional dress. All it took was one more volley of punches and Xiao was out for the count, leaving Rae bloodied, but victorious.

Rae made her way back to the tent, sniffing as blood was still trickling down from her nose and eyebrow. As she got inside the tent, she wiped her nose on the back of her glove and grinned at everyone, albeit a bloody grin.

Raihiko cheered as her friend rose victorious. As she passed her to get to the tent, she patted her back and gave her a good congrats in her native tongue. She was about to follow her back when the announcers called her name. Suddenly she was nervous. She didnt think she would be called up so soon. She turned to Sergei and smiled, giving him a slight bow before heading out to the arena. She took in a deep breath before she moved to loosen her body up. Low defense. Cover your face. These were the words that ran through her head as she got into position. She would have to take a different stance. One her Sensei instilled upon her when she was younger. She was nervous, but she would not let it show.

Sergei nodded to her. He was not sure how she would manage as he'd never seen her fight outside of training and the slight sparring they did. He hoped Anna would lose. He hoped Rai would come out relatively unscathed. Or so help him, he would be sure to break Anna's neck should he face her. He watched as she readied herself and noticed Anna slinking into the arena from the right, making a spectacle of herself and playing up to the cameras.

Meanwhile Bryan was calculating his next move. He had every intention to drag Rae off and fuck her into next week, but he could not think of a single way to do it without drawing too much attention. The blood on her face... In her mouth... He wanted to taste it. The mark on her neck... That he put there... He would have her. He would make sure of it. As soon as they got to the hotel he had every intention of dragging her to his room and drilling her into the floor, the bed, hell probably into the wall as well. Made no fucking difference to him.

Rae moved to the table, took a bottle of water and sat down roughly on a nearby bench to calm down. She was glad she won, but Xiao was tougher than she looked. She glanced over to Bryan, lifted her water bottle as if to give a slight wave and offered a quick wink. She felt exhausted. The heat was terrible. 

Bryan narrowed his eyes at the cheeky woman as she offered a wink. Was she teasing him? His inner voice piped up. "Keep it up sunshine. Just fuel that fire." He would get her sure enough. He was not really interested in the fight. He had other.... Larger things to think about at that moment. 

Raihiko wanted to roll her eyes at the woman as she blew kisses at the cameras. It was like all she cared about was the publicity, not the actual tournament. Though, she would not underestimate her. She stood at the ready as she waited for the match to start. As soon as the announcer yelled "fight!" she was immediately on the defensive. She circled to the left as she waited. She would let her make the first move. Low attacks and the face. The words continued to echo through her head as she glared at the woman.

Sergei watched with a hand to his face, his fingers curled around his chin. He had fought against Anna in the past and knew her technique.

Anna gave a wink as the announcer started the match and instantly started to taunt Rai. She wiggled her chest, blowing kisses at her. She didn't feel she was a threat at all. After a moment, she decided to stop taunting and ran straight for her as fast as she could, he arms aimed high, but at the last minute she swung them low and hooked upwards towards her face.

Rae wanted to watch, but she felt stuck to the seat. She used the back of her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, but only succeeded in smearing the blood around more. Bryan was watching her and she suddenly felt an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. What was he thinking. Was he angry at her again? Her eyes swept over his body. He was drenched in sweat from his bout and it only accentuated his muscle structure more. Her stomach fluttered. That was not good... Why? Why was she... Oh no. She crossed her legs and pressed her thighs together, attempting to stave off the sudden feeling of need.

Raihiko kept her guard up as the woman taunted her, but would not show any emotion. She would not let her get the best of her. As she raced in, Rai braced herself. She was aiming high? No! Wait! There it was! Raihiko back flipped out of the way, staying low as she kicked off and ran straight at the woman. Low and face. If she wanted to fight low. She would oblige. She attempted to spear the woman. If she could just get her to the ground...

Meanwhile, Bryan watched the fight with disinterest as images of Rae flailing beneath him ran through his head. Evey so often he would look back at her, giving her a rather mischevious grin. He couldn't seem to help it and in one sense it infuriated him. The fact that he had been perfectly fine up until that point, nothing distracting him... Now there she was making his nethers twitch as if he was a sex crazed fiend. He'd have been better off if he'd never have engaged her in the first place. He wouldn't miss what he didn't have, after all. Now he knew he worked down there, it was torture.

Rae's eyes kept darting to the entrance to the tent as flashed of the two fighting could be seen and then back to Bryan who was giving her such an odd sort of look. Why was he grinning at her? OK, so maybe she hadn't offended him? Still, something was amiss. She wiped at her brow with her fingers and winced. "If this scars, I'm having words with Xiaoyu..."

Raihiko had been hit just barely by Anna as she'd aimed for her thighs, but quickly recovered, flying past the woman. She quickly somersaulted, twisting her body to face the woman before she kicked off into a back flip. If she had timed it just right she was hoping to make contact with the womans lower jaw with her dominant foot.

And it sure did. Anna was knocked to the ground as her foot collided with her jaw. That was not supposed to happen! She looked up at Rai with a furious glare, stumbled to her feet and tried her best to focus again. She could have ended up with a scar! "Not the face, you dumb bitch!" She flung herself forwards, attempting to get around her so that she could grasp her from the side.

That was it! Piss her off. That was her weakness. Her face. What a hypocrite. As she dove in to grab ahold of her, she rolled to the side, jumping up to put as much distance between them as she could without being disqualified. Was that a thing? As she regained her composure, she tightened her defense, crouching slightly before kicking off into the offense. She jumped up to bring a punch down on her head. It was a risk but hopefully she would be disoriented enough to not be paying attention.

Rae's attenton was definitely no longer on the fight. She felt somewhat guilty, but she had to be on her guard around Bryan.

Bryan was ansty, though. His teeth were itching. He wanted to take that bloodied little bitch right that moment. The way that blood smeared across her face... His own blood was boiling with want. He looked around. Everyone was busy watching the jap and the whore fight. Maybe this was his chance... He slipped back, hopefully unnoticed and retreated back to Rae.

"Follow me." He all but growled in her ear before he headed out of the back of the tent. 

Rae was still recovering from her match and when he told her to follow him, she almost didn't want to prize herself from the seat, but... What did he want? She hoped he wasn't angry with her yet again. She got to her feet and cautiously followed him out the back. Her guard was up, but her curiosity had definitely gotten the better of her. "Uh... What's up?" She rubbed at the sore spot on her neck and spat onto the ground again.

Bryan ignored her as he continued. There was a large split in the rocks about 20 feet from them. That would do nicely. No prying eyes. Not that he gave a shit... But he didnt need people going around saying he'd gone soft. "Shut up and keep walkin." 

Rae just walked along quietly behind him. Was this it? Was he finally going to murder her? Was that why he was talking her to a secluded place away from everyone? It was a good thing her adrenaline was still up, she might actually have a chance at fighting him off if he tried.

As soon as he was deep enough in the crack, which was surprisingly deep in the sandstone, he turned on Rae and grabbed ahold of her tightly, his knuckles turning white. He hardly even hesitated before he all but slammed her against smooth wall of rock. Before she could react, he forced his mouth against hers. He needed to taste that sweet metallic flavour of her blood. 

Rae was just about to speak when he grabbed hold of her roughly, flung her against the rock face and pressed his lips against hers. What? She squeaked against him in shock, her eyes wide and fixed firmly on his face. Slowly, she rested her bloodied hands on his shoulders. He tasted of cigarettes and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on, but to her it was not unpleasant. Not unpleasant, but highly unexpected. She'd anticipated yelling, or maybe even a fight, but a kiss? Definitely not! Of course, it was not a soft or tender kiss, it was vicious, almost cruel in nature. His tingue forcing into her mouth, his face pressing her head painfully against the sandstone behind her.

Bryan was quick to remove her top, breaking away just long enough to pull it over her head. He couldn't run the risk of ruining her clothes out there without raising suspicions.

Once the garment was off, he tossed it behind him as he roughly palmed her perk mounds. He throbbed painfully in his shorts as he roughly ground his hips against hers, growling into the kiss as he shoved his tongue roughly into her mouth once more. 

Rae's head was in a mess. The hot weather must have driven him mad, why else would he have his hot... chapped... amazing lips on hers? As he pushed his tongue into her mouth she almost gagged. He was really going at it. She slowly reached her hands up from his shoulders up to his neck cautiously, until finally tangling them in his pale hair. She had never imagined she'd ever even get that far. Not that she actually ever imagined it to begin with. Did she? Oh, good lord. She couldn't even think. The blood had left her brain as well. Or maybe Xiao had gotten one too many hits in. 

He hardly paid attention as she curled her fingers in his hair, as his tongue fought with hers for dominance as he made quick work of yanking her pants and underwear off below, before he undid his own belt and shorts. They fell to pool around his feet as he yanked her back up and spread her legs by putting pressure against them with his hips, hooking them around his waist with one arm. He didnt even hesitate before he shoved himself roughly inside of her. Dry? Wet? It didn't make much difference. He needed in and he was not about to entertain the idea of foreplay. He grit his teeth for a moment, his own flesh tugging somewhat against the dryness of hers eliciting a apined whimper from her lips against his.

It was going so fast, like a freight train and it was exciting. The fact that everyone was so close by also made it unusually thrilling for Rae. Then there was the adrenaline from the fight that was still palpable. Her fingers ran through his hair as he pumped into her and she had to try and turn her head to try and breath as he took her breath away. "Mm!" She could taste blood in her mouth still and it mingled with their saliva creating an odd sort of taste.

The metallic taste in his mouth only worsened his arousal as he pounded her against the wall. As she turned her head away, he leaned his head down to bite at her neck, the blood that ran down nearly dried as he sucked and licked it away. His fingers dug into her hips as he adjusted her against the rock face to a better angle so that her weight was distributed evenly. He didn't want to make too much of an effort, after all.

As his teeth caught the same area he had bitten previously, Rae winced with pain and it only served to make her lock her heels together behind him. She needed his lips back on hers, or else everyone would know what they were doing soon enough, she could feel her pleasure building and building inside her the more he continued. She didn't want everyone to hear her! She reached back down his neck and grazed her fingertips over his bareback, enjoying the feeling of his taught muscles against her.

\---

Back in the arena, Anna saw that Rai was about to go in for the kill, but her reactions were laboured due to fatigue. She raised her arms to block it a little too late. It collided with her arms, but reached her face. She slumped to the ground and wriggled to try and get to her feet.

Raihiko was not gonna let her recuperate as she assaulted the woman with a merciless barrage of attacks. It was far too early in this competition to be sent home. She was not going to hold anything back.

As Rai attacked, Anna was subdued and with one hit to the face she was out for the count. She slumped to the ground in a heap.

Paul cheered from the tent and waved a hand to her in celebration. He knew he'd be buying her a drink later, or would at least try to.

Rai couldnt believe she had taken the bitch out. She was apparently all talk after all. She didnt even use the daggers she had threatened her with the night before.

As a few staff ran on stage to help take her off to the medical tent, Raihiko bowed in sportsmanship before turning to walk back to the tent, a huge smile on her face.

Sergei offered a slow clap with his gloved hands, as Paul got to her first and threw his arm around her shoulders with a big cheer. Sergei didn't mind, she deserved to have her ego stroked a little for being a champion of the round. He also didn't mind Paul making physical contact, it was pretty obvious that she was not interested in the man in any way other than possible friendship. Even then, that might have been pushing it.

Rai cringed as an arm was thrown around her. Being this close to Paul made her want to shrink away, but she did not want to be rude. It wasn't anything against him... She just felt weird about it. She offered him a kind smiled as they walked back to the tent and Rai smiled at Sergei. She was happy he got to see her fight. It proved that she wasnt some fragile little paper swan as she had made herself seem to be when they sparred before. And for some reason what he thought of her mattered. Never had she ever cared what anyone but her Sensei had thought of her.

"Damn! Did you see what she did to her face? Girl you made an enemy for life!" Paul said a bit too enthusiastically for her liking. She smiled sheepishly as she ducked out of his arm and headed to get a water. All this moving in this heat was starting to get to her.

Sergei was pleased. Though his face, of course, did not show it. He followed her to get water just as Paul was called up next for his battle. He checked his hair, gave them both a wave and dashed out. "SEE YA LATER!"

'See ya later'? He was sure confident that he would win. Sergei looked at Rai and cleared his throat into his gloved hand. It would not be long until it was his round, so he supposed he had better do what he intended do to quickly while he still could. He moved so that people's views were blocked should anyone be looking, leaned down and placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

As she grabbed a water bottle, she heard Sergei clear his throat. As she turned to face him, she was surprised to recieve a kiss to the top of her head. She took in a sharp breath through her nose as his scent invaded her nostrils. She could feel her face warm as she placed a hand to his solid chest. She had barely even registered that Paul had already gone to fight his opponent.  
"W-what was that for?" She finally pulled her hand away and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes.

He simply placed both hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. Truth be told, it was too warm to speak. He feared that if he uttered a single word he would pass out. He hoped he would be up next just so he could reture to somewhere cooler than that blasted tent. His eyebrows raised as he heard the start of Paul's match and the familiar thuds of his powerful punches.

She pulled the cap off her water and took a large, healthy swig, a small trickle running down her chin to her throat, only to disappear in her collar. Oh that definitely hit the spot.  
"I still do not understand how you can be in that uniform and coat. It is far too hot. I think even if I were naked I would be too hot." She shrugged before taking another drink. She wanted to go watch Paul fight, but at the same time she wanted to stay and talk with Sergei. How the hell was he not passing out?

Oh, that just tore it. Now he was REALLY hot. What kind of comment was that? He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he pushed the rather ungentlemanly mental images from his minds eye. He instantly snatched one of the bottles of water from the table, cracked open the top in one swift motions and dumped the entire contents on his head...

Raihiko blinked in surprise. Why... Was he that hot? "Are... You okay?" she asked as she titled her head to the side. "Maybe if you, ya know, took a few layers off you wouldn't be so hot?" She pulled the metal fan from her hair and fanned him lightly with it. Sure, it was a weapon, but it would have to do.

He finally admitted defeat as Paul wandered back in, a bloody smile on his face. Sergei took off his jacket and carefully placed it on the table, followed by his shirt. Now he was in nothing but his trousers and Paul almost fell backwards.

"WOAH, what did I jess walk into here? There a secret strip show goin' down? If so, I want in!"

The announcer called for Sergei to take the stage and he let out a loud exhale. Finally! He made his way outside as stoic as ever to begin his match, as Paul sat and mopped himself up opposite Raihiko. 

Rai blinked at Paul's comment, not quite understanding before looking back at a now shirtless Sergei. He... Was ripped. She could feel her skin tighten as a most enjoyable chill ran up her spine. She gave a sweat soaked Paul a smile and a thumbs up in congratulations as she followed behind Sergei to the entrance of the tent.  
"Ganbarou!" She sheepishly smiled before taking another drink of her water and wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her equally sweaty arm. It was exciting, getting to watch Sergei fight. She couldnt help but stare. He was so toned that she could see each and every muscle move under his skin as he walked out.

\---

That was the stuff. Her tight little pussy around his cock. That was just what he needed. He growled out his pleasures as he picked up the pace a bit. His tongue flicked out and licked the spot he had just caused to reopen and relished in the metallic tastes of her blood. He picked his head up and slammed his lips against hers again. He wanted her to taste her own blood. He wanted to taste her saliva mingled with it. He shoved his tongue in her mouth as his pace became frantic. Nearly there. He was nearly there. 

With her mouth now firmly against his she was finally able to let out the long groan she had been holding it and her chest emptied of its air as she exhaled sharply through her nose. Her blood... It tasted strong. Coppery. Bitter. It didn't matter to her that spit was now dribbling down her chin, the messier the better. She just needed to lose herself in it. To get rid of that adrenaline and pent up frustration. Her fingers raked up his back again as she tried to grip onto him for dear life.

As she raked her fingers up his back, it merely fueled the fire. He growled his own pleasures into her mouth as one hand roughly cupped a breast as the other readjusted her on his hips. His moves were erratic as he used his body weight to hold her against the rock wall behind her. So close. So very close...

Rae was losing herself fast and her eyes rolled to the back of her skull as she bit down on his lower lip without even realising it in the heat of the moment.

As she bit his lip it just threw fuel on the already out of control flame. He growled loudly into her mouth as he all but exploded inside of her. Violently. His thrusts were almost desperate as he unloaded his clip into her, his breath from his nose huffing with each movement.

Rae finally got to enjoy her own orgasm and she shook against his chest, her thighs quivering as she felt him spill into her. Had she not been propped up by his hips, she'd have fallen over for sure. What... Was that? Where did that come from? All she knew was that she could sure go for that after every round.

After the waves of pleasure began to recede, he pulled away from her, nearly dropping her to the ground before he reached down to pull his shorts up. He shoved himself into his clothing before zipping up and and fastening his belt. He was silent as worked. He was satisfied. What more was there to it? He'd got what he wanted.

Rae slumped downwards into the dust and took a moment to enjoy the tingles that were rolling over her body. That had been her first climax with him. Her first... And it was in a fucking desert behind a rock! She watched him dress again and slowly stood up to get her clothes back. "Mmm..." She felt so much more mellow and chill and it was wonderful. As she reached to take hold of her trousers from off the ground, she noticed that Bryan had dropped a zippo from his pocket. She picked it up and held it out to him in silence.

A glint of light caught his eye and he looked back at Rae, his zippo in her hand. His eyes narrowed as he took the zippo from her. How dare that fucking lighter just run from his pocket like that? He thought they had something good! He mumbled a barely audible thanks before he trudged back to the tent. Were the shitty rounds over yet? He needed a damn drink. 

Rae made sure she was presentable before following, leaving a few moments in between him going in and her so as not to look suspicious. It seemed Sergei had just been called up. She could tell from the intense concentration on Rai's face. She couldn't help but smirk as she sat down on the bench near the water table while Bryan headed for the front of the tent to catch a look at the heat board and groaned irritably. There were still a few rounds before they were to move on to their next destination. Fuck. 

Out in the arena, Sergei faced his opponent. He simply stood as if everything was normal, but as soon as the announcer started the fight, he broadened his stance and raised his arms ready. The giant robotic behemoth that was Jack-8 stomped towards him and stood ready. Jack units were always on the offensive, it was what they were made for. Sergei couldn't help but find it amusing that he should be going up against Russian-made technology. It should prove very interesting.

As soon as the start of the round was upon them, Jack moved forwards in a swift and viscious manner. For a robot, he was a lot more smooth than what would be expected. Sergei spun out of the way to the right and allowed Jack to swing for him a few more times to see just how predictable he was. If at all. He always enjoyed getting a taste for new opponents in that way and this model was brand new. Perhaps his attack patterns had been uploaded to him? He would have to be carefull. Jack swung his arms at Sergei and he did his best to dodge them, but the heat was making it difficult.

Rai watched as Sergei dodged around the giant man. Robot. Thing. As she thought he was going to land a hit she would jump and gasp, her heart racing fast as she watched how he moved. It was as though he were dancing around the large... 'man'?

As Jack moved towards him again, Sergi hopped backwards as his giant fist came hurtling towards his face. He just missed him by an inch or two. That was not acceptable! As he righted himself, Sergei took that opportunity to unleash a string of attacks on the giant robot, making sure to target all of his weak points. Namely his joints. Jack made a whirring sound, but stood upright again and kicked towards Sergei, landing a hit on his leg just as he was moving out of the way. It just grazed him. It was a good thing too, if it had have hit him head on it would have broken his shin bone for sure!

Rai reached out with a squeak as Sergei was hit. She couldnt believe how light on his feet he was. He was so much more fluid in his motions than she thought was possible for a man his size. Her respect for the man grew as she continued to watch.

Jack laced his huge digits together and began swinging both arms together like a wrecking ball. Sergei ahd seen this move before in previous models, so did his best to move out of the way. It had a wide reach, so he needed to run to stay out of range around him and hope he was too slow to realise he was now behind. This unit, thankfully, was too slow to catch up and he managed to grip onto the huge bot from behind. Sergei let out a strained roar as he threw him to the ground, grappled his leg and somehow managed to twist and break all the connections in it. Jack would now have to hop and that amused him greatly.

Jack got to his feet then realised he could only use one and sure enough, he was a giant metal flamingo. Sergi used his now messed up balance to focus a volley of punched to his middle. Jack stumbled and fell over. Perfect! Sergei ran for him, managed to get enough air and speed and kicked firmly at his head.

And that, as they say... Was history.

Raihiko was on the edge of her seat (or lack there of) the whole time. When he finally won his match, she cheered loudly as she threw her fist in the air. She was so excited for him to win. To watch him fight awoke something inside of her that she couldnt understand.

Sergei made his way inside the tent, his body glistening with sweat.

Paul winced. "WOAAAH HEY MAN, I'll go blind here!"

Rae couldn't help but laugh and reached over to him, slapping him on his arm. "Ass. He just won and you say that?"

Paul looked back in alarm. "Rae? I didn't see you there!"

"I'm a ninja. Don't mind me."

As he reached for a bottle of water he nodded to Rai. He just hoped he didn't have to face her next round.


End file.
